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Book. 



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Coiitaming sucli Articles on Hie Subject as liave been omitted by that Author. 

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AfnltitTido Viil^./z/i'/v-inagLs o^pnaxvJudiriiy.-^asX alhnu alins quasi 
pmdfiitiorem seqwitnr. SALLl'ST. ad. C^S- 

Soinnia , ten-ores niagieos .miracula, sag'as , 

Noctin-Mos lemures. portent aqxi* The ssalaA-iV-^^j"/ HORAT. 




PRIKTED for \N ILLIAIVI B AYX E S . 
Sol J) ALSO BY W: B LA CKWO OD , IJmSB I ItGir. 

1810. 



THE GENERAL PREFACE. 



n^RADITION has in no instance so clearly evinced her 
^ faithfulness, as in the transmitting of vulgar rites and po- 
pular opinions. 

Of these, when we are desirous of tracing hem backwards 
to their origin, many lose themselves in antiquity. 

They have indeed travelled down to us through a long suc- 
cession of years, and the greatest part of them, it is not impro- 
bable, will be of perpetual observation : for the generality of 
men look back with superstitious veneration on the ages of 
their forefathers : and authorities that are grey with time, sel- 
dom fail of commanding those filial honours, claimed even by 
the appearance of hoary old age. 

Many of these, it must be confessed, are mutilated, and, as 
in the remains of ancient statuary, the parts of not a few of 
them have been awkwardly transposed : they preserve, how- 
ever, the principal traits that distinguished them in their ori- 
gin. 

Things, composed of such flimsy materials as the fancies of 
a multitude, do not seem calculated for a long duration ; yet 
have these survived shocks, by which even empires have been 
overthrown, and preserved at least some form and colotcr of iden- 
tity, during a repetition of changes, both m religious opinions, 
and in the polity of states. 

But the strongest proof of their remote antiquity, is, that 
they have outhved the general knowledge of the very causes^ 
that gave rise to them. 

The reader will find in the subsequent pages an union of 
endeavours to rescue many of these causes from obHvion. If^ 
on the i^^^^tigatijn, they appear to any so frivolous as not to 
have dt ^ the pains of the search, the humble labourers 
will avo 1 fi-ire, by incurring contempt. 

How B 11. soever such an enquiry may seem to some, yet 
all must oe iniormed that it is attended with no small share of 
difficulty and toil. 

A passage is to be forced through a wilderness intricate 
and entangled : few vestiges of former labours can be found 
to direct us ; we must oftentimes trace a tedious retrospective 
course, perhaps to return at last weary and unsatisfied, from 
the malang of researches, fi'uitless as those of some ancient 
enthusiastic traveller, who, ranging the barren Ajfrjcau #and?. 



n GENERAL PREFACE. 

had in valii attempted to investigate the hidden sources of the* 
Nile. 

Rugged and narrow as this walk of study may seem to many, 
yet fancy (who shares with hope the pleasing office of bright- 
ening a passage through every route of human endeavour) o- 
pens fi'om hence to prospects, enriched with the clioicest 
beauties of her magic creation. 

The prime origin of the superstitious notions and ceremo- 
nies of the people is absolutely unattainable ; we despair of 
ever being able to reach the fountain-head of streams which 
have been runninor and increasinij from the besrinnincr of time. 
All that we aspire to do, is only to trace backwards, as for as 
possible, the courses of them on those charts that remain, of 
the distant countries fi'om whence they were first perceived 
to flow. 

Few, who are desirous of investigating the popular notion* 
and vulgar ceremonies in our nation, can fail of deducing them 
in their first direction from the times when popery was our e- 
stablished religion. 

We shall not wonder that these were able to surs^ive the re- 
formation, when we consider, that though our sensible and 
spirited forefathers were, upon conviction, easily induced to 
forego religious tenets which had been weighed in tlie balance 
and found wanting, yet were the people by no means inclined 
to annihilate the seemingly innocent ceremonies of tbeir for- 
mer superstitious faith. 

Tlieiie, consecrated to the fancies of men, by a usage from^ 
time immemorial, though erazed by public nuthority from the 
Kicritteji *word, were committed as a venerable depo>it to the 
keeping of oral tradition : like the penates of another Troy, 
recently destroyed, they were religiously brought olf, alter 
having been snatched out of the smoking ruins of Po}x?ry. 

It is not improbable that, in the infancy of Protestantism, 
the continuance of many of these was connived at '^ • e state. 
For men, " who are but children of a larger ^%o^ are not 

weaned all at once, and the rcfc rmation of nwmr d of re- 

ligion, is always most surely established, when ej .. by slo^r 
degrees, and, as it were, imperceptible gradations. "*' 

Thus also at the first pronuiigatioii of Christianity to the 
Gentile nations, through the force ot conviction they yieldcil 
incki d to truth ; yet they could not be persuaded to relin- 
OL-li many of their superstitions, which* rather than forego 
inera altogether, they chose to blend and incorporate wiili 
:Jitir new faith. 

cri'ristian, or rather Pv^pal Rome, borrowed her rites, no- 



^ff'? 



GENERAL PREFACE. iii 

tions, and ceremonies, in the most luxurious abundance, from 
ancient and heathen Rome ; and much the greater number of 
these flaunting externals, which infallibility has adopted, and 
used as feathers to adorn her triple-cap, have been stolen out 
of the wings of the dying eagle. 

With regard to the rites, sports, &c. of the common people, 
I am aware, that the morose and bigotted part of mankind *, 
without distinffuishincr between the rio^ht use and the abuse of 
such entertainments, cavil at and malign them. Yet must 
such be told, that shows and sports have been countenanced 
by the best and wisest of states •, and though it cannot be de- 
nied, that they have been sometimes prostituted to the pur- 
poses of riot and debauchery, yet were we to reprobate every 
thing that has been thus abused, religion itself could not be 
retained ; perhaps we should be able to keep nothing. 

The common people, confined by daily labour, seem to re- 
quire their proper intervals of relaxation j perhaps it is of the 
highest political utihty to encourage innocent sports and games 
among them. Tlie revival of many of these would, I thiiik, 
be highly pertinent at this particular season, when the gene- 
ral spread of luxury and dissipation threatens more than at 
any preceding period to extinguish the character of our boast- 
ed national bravery. For the observation of an honest old 
writer. Stow, (who tells us, speaking of the May-games, Mid- 
summer-eve f rejoicings, &c. anciently used in the streets of 
London, " which open pastimes in my youth being now sup- 
*' prest, worse practices within doors are to be feared)," may 
be with singular propriety adopted on the most transient 
survey of our present popular manners. 

Mr Bourne, my predecessor in this walk, has not, from 
whatever cause, done justice to the subject Tie undertook to 

* I (hall quote here the fubfequent curious tloughts on this fubjedl : The Puri- 
tans are ridiculed in them. 

Thefe teach that dancing is a Jezabel, 
And barely break the ready way to hell; 
The Morrice idols ^ WhilfuH-a'es can be 
J3iit profane relicts of a jubilee : 
Thefe, in a zeal t' exprefs how much they do. 
The organs hate, have filenc'd bagpipes too; 
And harralefs maypoles all are rail'd upon, 
As if they were the touurs of Babylon. 

Randolph's Poems, IC-K). 

t I call to mind here the pleafing account Mr Sterne has left us in his Senti- 
mental Journey, of the graccdance after fupper. — I agree with that amiable writ- 
er, in thinking that religion may mix herfelf in the dance, and that innocent 
cheerfulnefs is no inconfiderable part of devotion ; fuch indeed as cannot fail of 
being gratefal to the Good Bein^^ — it is ^filait but eloquent mode of praifing him ! 



iy GENERAL PREFACE. 

treat of. Far from having the vanity to think that I have ex- 
hausted it, the utmost of my pretensions is to the merit of ha- 
ving endeavoured, by making additions, to improve it. I 
think him, however, deserving of no small share of praise for 
his imperfect attempt, for nuich is due to those who first broke 
the way to knowledge, and left only to their successors the task 
of smoothing it." 

New lights have arisen since his time. The English Antique 
lias become a general and fashionable study ; and the disco- 
veries of the very respectable society of antiquaries have ren- 
dered the recesses of papal and heathea antiquities easier of 
access. 

I flatter myself I have turned all these circumstances in some 
measure to advantage. I have gleaned passages that seemed 
to throw light upon the subject, from a variety of volumes, and 
those written too in several languages ; in the doing of which, if 
I shall not be found to have tlcserved the praise of judgment, 
I must at least make pretensions to the merit of industry. 

Elegance of composition will hardly be expected in a work 
of this kind, which stands much less in need of attic wit, than 
of Roman perseverance, and Dutch assiduity. 

I shall offer some discoveries, which are peculiarl}' my own ; 
for there are customs yet retained here in the North, of whicli 
I am persuaded the learned of the southern part of the island 
have not heard, which is, perhaps, the sole cause why the}' 
have never before been investigated. 

In perusing the subsequent observations, the candid read- 
er, who has never before considered this neglected subject, 
is requested not to be rash in passing sentence, but to suspend 
his judgment, at least, till he has carefully examined all the 
evidence ; by which caution I do not wish to have it under- 
stood, that our determinations are thought to be infallible, or 
that every decision here is not amenable to an higher autlio- 
rity. In the mean time prejudice may be forewarned, and it 
will apologize for many seemingly ti'ivial reasons, assigned for 
the beginning and transmitting of this or that notion or cor- 
momj^ to rellect, that what may appear ibolish to the enlight- 
ened understandings of men in the eighteenth century, wore a 
very different aspect when viewed through the gloom that pre- 
vailed in the seventh or eighth. 

I should trespass upon the patience of my reader, were I 
to enumerate all the books I have consulted on this occasion ; 
to which, however, I shall take care in their proper places to 
refer : but I own myself under particular obligations to Du- 
rand's Ritual of Divine Oflices ; a work inimical to every idea 



GENERAL PREFACE. v 

rf rational worship, but to the enquirer into the origin of our 
popular ceremonies, an invaluable Magazine of the most in- 
teresting intelligence. I would stile this performance the 
great Ceremonial Law of the Romanists, in comparison with 
\v hich the Mosaic code is barren of rites and ceremonies. We 
stand amazed on perusing it at the enormous weight of a new 
yoke which holy church fabricating mth her own hands has 
imposed on her servile devotees. 

Yet the forgers of these shackles had artfully contrived to 
make them sit easy, by twisting flowers around them. Dark 
as this picture, drawn by the pencil of gloomy superstition, 
appeared upon the moholey yet was its deep shade contrasted 
with pleasing lights. 

The calendar was crowded with red-letter days, nominally 
indeed consecrated to saints ; but which, by the encourage- 
ment of idleness and dissipation of mamiers, gave every kind 
of countenance to sinners. 

A profusion of childish rites, pageants and ceremonies, di- 
verted the attention of the people from the consideration of 
their real state, and kept them in humour, if it did not some- 
times make them in love with their slavish modes of worship. 

To the credit of our sensible and manly forefathers, they 
were among the first who felt the weight of this new and un- 
necessary yoke, and had spirit enough to throw it off. 

I have fortunately in my possession one of those ancient 
Romish calendars of singular curiosity, which contains under 
the immoveable feasts and fasts, (I regret much its silence on 
the moveable ones) a variety of brief observations, contributing 
not a httle to the elucidation of many of our popular customs, 
and proving them to have been sent over from Rome, with 
bulls, indidgenciesy and other baubles, bartered, as it should 
seem, for our Peter-'pence, by those who trafficked in spiritual 
merchandize from the continent. 

These I shall carefully translate (though in some places it 
is extremely difficult to render the very barbarous Latin, of 
which I fear the critic will think I have transfused the bar- 
barity, brevity, and obscurity into my own English) and lay 
before my reader, who will at once see and acknowledge their 
utihty. 

A learned performance, by a Doctor Moresin in the time 
of James I. and dedicated to that monarch, is also luckily in 
my possession. It is written in Latin, and entitled, " The 
origin and increase of depravity in religion *," containing a 
very masterly parallel between the rites, notions, &c. of hea^ 
then and those oi papal Rome. 



vi GENERAL PREFACE. 

The copious extracts from this work, with v.hich I shall a- 
dorn the subsequent pages, will be their own eulogy, and su- 
persede my poor encomiums. 

When I call to remembrance the Poet of* Humanity ^ who 
has transmitted his name to immortality, by reflections wTit- 
ten an'ong the b'ttle tomb-stones of the vulgar, "in a coimtry 
church-^}^ard ; I am urged by no false shame to apologize for 
the seeming unimportance of my subject. 

The Antiquities of the Comm.on People cannot be studied 
without 'acquiring some useful knowledge of mankind. By the 
chemical process of philosophy, even wisdom may be extract- 
ed fi oni the follies and superstitions of our forefathers. 

The 'people y of whom Society is chiefly composed, and for 
whose good, superiority of rank is only a grant made origi- 
nally by mutual concession, is a respectable subject to every 
one who is the friend of man. 

Pride, which, independent of the idea arising fi'om the ne- 
cessity of civil polity, has portioned out the human gemis into 
such a variety of different and subordinate spedeSf must be 
compelled to own, that the lowest of these derives itself from 
an origin, common to it with the highest of the kind. Tlie 
beautiful sentiment of Terence : 

" Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto." 

may be adopted therefore in this place, to persuade us that no- 
thing can be foreign to our enquir}^, which concerns the small- 
est of the vulgar ; of those little ones, who occupy the lowest 
place in the poHtical arrangement of human beings. 

J. B. 

Westgate-Street, Ne^iVcastle, "J 
Nov. 27. 1776. 3 

* The late Mr Gray. 



N. B. Here follow Mr Bourne's Titl^ .^c, Decli- 
cation, and Preface. 



Antiquhates Vulgar es ; 



OR, THE 



ANTIQUITIES 



OF T H E 



Common People; 



GIVING 



An Account of several of their OFI- 
NIONS and CEREMONTES. 



WITH 



Proper REFLECTIONS upon each of 
them ; shewing which may beretain'd, 
and which ought to be laid aside. 



By HENRY BOURNE, M. A. 

Curate of the Parochial Chapel of 
AlUSainfs in Ne*wcastle upon I'yiie, 



NEWCASTLE, 

Printed by J. White for the Author. 
MDCCXXV. 



vr?^ 



► Aldermen. 



TO THE, 

Right Worshipful and Worshipful 

WILLIAM CARR, Esq. IVIayor, 

John Isaacson, Esq. Recorder. 

Sir William Blackett, Bar. 
William Ellison, Esq. 
Mat. Featherstonhaugh, Esq. 
Henry Re ay, Esq. 
Richard Ridley, Esq. 
Edward Johnson, Esq. 
Francis Rudston, Esq. 
Nicholas Fenwick, Esq. 
Francis Johnson, Esq. 
Nathaniel Clayton, Esq. 

To James Muncaster, Esq. Sheriif, and to the rest of the 
Common-Council of the Town and County of Newcastle 
upon Tyne. 

Gentlemen, 

1 Know none so justly intitled to the eflfects and produce of 
«tudy, as those who are the Promoters and Patrons of Learn- 
ing. They undoubtedly of all others, have the best of claims 
to a Work of this nature, whose Generosity and Benevolence 
have been conspicuous, in so promoting the welfare of their 
Countryj-and -the good of Mankind. 

And such, Gentlemen, are you, the Encouragers of Learn- 
ing and the Rewarders of Merit : there are numbers to wit- 
jiess the one, and your Clergy may witness the other. 

For, not to mention you in our private capacities, as Pro- 
moters of common Learning, as the Helpers and Supporters 
of Schools of Charity, one great blessing of your Community: 
you in your public staticms uphold a nobler literature, and as- 
sist a more generous education : You not only lay the ground- 
works here, but you help to the top of Arts and Sciences, jji 
the greater Schools of Learning. 



X DEDICATION. 

Nor is it less certain that you have always been eminent, 
and that not only in your own country, but in distant parts, 
for the support of an orthodox and learned Clergy : Your fame 
for maintaining them, and your regard to merit in chusing 
them, being every where spoken of. 

Justly therefore are you entitled to performances of this na- 
ture, but in a more especial manner to this in particular ; it 
being the genuine offspring of your generosity. As I am sen- 
sible that you have blessed me with the most inestimable fa- 
vours, so I am bound in duty, and by all the ties of gratitude, 
to lay the First-fruits of my labours at your feet ; hoping that 
as you have been very instrumental in occasioning them, so 
you will receive them under your care and protection. 

And this I also hope for, not as they are a work of merit, 
or worthy of being dedicated to such Patrons : for I am just- 
ly sensible of the meanness of their desert, and their unwor- 
thiness of that honour ; but as they are an indication of the 
sincerest thankfulness and gratitude ofi 

Gentt.f.mkn, 

Your most obHged, 

Most obedient, . 

And most humble Servant, 

HENRY BOURNE. 



THE 

PREFACE. 



THE following sheets are a few of that vast num- 
ber of ceremonies and opinions, which are held 
by the common people ; such as they solely, or ge- 
nerally observe. For though some of them have 
been of national, and others perhaps of universal ob- 
servance, yet at present they would have little or no 
being, if not observed among the vulgar. 

I would not be thought a reviver of old rites and 
ceremonies to the burdening of the people, nor an 
abolisher of innocent customs, which are their plea- 
sures and recreations: I aim at nothing, but a regu- 
lation of those which are in being amongst them, 
which they themselves are far from thinking burden- 
some, and abolishing such only as are sinful and 
wicked. 

Some of the customs they hold, have been origi- 
nally good, though at present they retain little of 
their primitive purity ; the true meaning and design 
of them being either lost, or very much in the dark 
through folly and superstition. To wipe off there- 
fore the dust they have contracted, to clear them of 
superstition, and make known their end and design, 
may turn to some account, and be of advantage ; 
whereas observing them in the present way, is not 
only of no advantage, but of very great detriment. 

Others they hold, are really sinful, notwithstand- 
ing in outward appearance they seem very harmless. 



xii THE PREFACE. 

being k scandal to religion, and an encouraging of 
wickedness. And therefore to aim at abolishing 
these, will I hope be no crime, though they be the 
diversions of the people. 

As to the opinions they hold, they are almost all 
superstitious, being generally either the produce of 
heathenism, or the inventions of indolent Monks, 
who having nothing else to do, were the forgers of 
many silly and wicked opinions, to keep the world 
in awe and ignorance. And indeed the ignorant part 
of the world is so still awed, that they follow the idle 
traditions of the one, more than the Word of GOD ; 
and have more dependance upon the lucky omens 
of the other than his providence, more dread of their 
unlucky ones, than his wrath and punishment. 

The regulating therefore of these opinions and 
customs, is what I proposed by the following com- 
positions, whatever has been suggested to the con- 
trary : And as to the menaces of some, and the cen- 
sures of others, I neither fear nor regard them. I 
shall be always ready to own any mistake, and, iii 
what I justly may, to vindicate myself. 



THE 

CONTENTS 

OF THE 

ANTIQUITATES VULGARES. 

Chap. I. f\F the Soul-hell ; its antiquity ; the reason of its in-'' 

stitution ; the benefits and advantage of it ; an, 

exhortation to the use of it according to its first institii-^ 

Hon. Page 1 



Chap. II. Of watching mth the dead. 



20 



Chap. III. Offolloxmng the catyse to the grave ; Kschat it is an 
emblem of: Of carrying greens in our hand ; uohat it may 
sig7iify ; what use it may be of: Of Psalmody^ its antiquity y 
the adfoantage of it. 28 

Chap. IV. Of garlands in country churches: Of str awing JloW" 
ers on the grave ; the antiquity of these customs^ the innocen- 
cy of them, 39 

Chap. V. Ofhctmng tomoards the altar at the first coming into 
the church ,- a custom generally observed by ignorant people ,- 
its meaning and antiquity. 4?4 

Chap. VI. Of the time of cocJc-cr&w : Whether evil spirits wan- 
der about in the time of night ; and whether theyfiy away at 
the time of cock-crow : Befiections upon this encouraging us to 
have faith and trust in God. 54" 

Chap. VII. Of church-yards ; why the vulgar are generally a- 
fraid of passing through tJiem at r. '^ht: The 07^iginal of this 



I 



3dv CONTENTS. 

fear ; that there is nothing in them nonsoy more than in other 
places to be afraid of. 76 

Chap. VIII. Of visiting "wells and fountains : Tlie original of 
this custom : The naming of them of great antiquity : The 
"worship paid them by the Papists, "was gross idolatry. 82 

Chap. IX. Of Omens : Their original : The observation of 
them sinful. 87 

Chap. X. Of the Country Conversation in a Winter's Evening : 
Their Opinions of Spirits and Apparitions : Of the Devil's 
appearing with a cloven Foot : Of Fairies and Hobgoblins : 
Of the walking Places of Spirits ; and of Haunted Hotises. 

102 

Chap. XI. The form of exorcising an haunted House. 123 

Chap. XII. Of Saturday Afternoon ,• how observed of old by 
the ancient Christiansy the Church of Scotland, and the old 
Church of England : WJiat End we should obseixe it for : An 
Exhortation to the observation of it. 145 

Chap. XIII. Of the Yide-Clog and Christmas-Candle ; "what 
they may signify ,• their Antiquity ,- the like Customs in other 
places. 155 

Chap. XIV. Of adorning the wiiidffws at Christmas with laurel : 
What the laurel is an emblem of: An Objection ogai?ist this 
Custom taken off. 172 

Chap. XV. Of the Christmas-Carol, an ancient Custom : The 
common Obse7Tatio?i of it, very unbecoming. 181 

Chap. XVL Of Xcw-Ycar' s Day s Ceremonies : The Xrw- 

Year's Gift an harmless Custom : Wishing a good New- Year 

no way sinful : Mumming a custom which ought to be laid a- 

side. 187 



CONTENTS. XV 

Chap. XVII. Of the tmelftli-DoLy s hem observed: The mickedy 
ness of observing the twelve Days after the common manner, 

199 

Chap. XVIII. OfStPauVs-Day: The observation of the Wea. 
thery a Custom of the Heathens^ and hatided down hy the 
Monks : The Apostle St Paul himself is against such obser^ 
vations: The opinion of St Austin upon them. 208 

Chap. XIX< Of Candlemas-Day ; why it is so called: The. 
blasphemy of the Church of Rome y in consecrating Wax-Can- 
dles. 220 

Chap. XX. Of Valentine-Day ; its Ceremonies: What the 
Council of Trullus thought of such Customs ,- that they had 
better be omitted. 225 

Chap. XXI. Of Shrove-tide ; what it signifies : The Custom of 
the Papists ai this Season : That our present Customs are ve- 
ry unbecoming. 230 

Chap. XXII. Of Palm-Sunday ; why so called: How observ- 
ed in the Popish Times : What it is truly to carry Palms in 
our Hands on that Day. 236 

Chap. XXIII. Of rising early on Easter-Day: What is meant 
hy the Sun-dancing that Morn : The antiquity of rising early 
on this day : The End and Design of it : The great Advan- 
tage of it. 241 

Chap. XXIV. Cf Easter Holy-days ; a time of relaxation 

from labour : How observed in the dark ages of Popery : 

That our Customs at this time are sprung from theirs. 249 

Chap. XXV. Of May-Day ,- the Custom of going to the woods 
the night before : This the Practice of other Nations : The 
Original of it : The Unlawfdness. 2 SB 



xvi contents- 

Chap. XXVI. Of 'Parochial Peramhidations ; their antiquity •; 
the Benefit and Advantage of them, 263 

Chap. XXVII. Of Mid-summer Eve : Of kindling Jires ; their 
Original: That this Custom formerly was superstitious^ but 
now may be used with Innocence. 271 

Chap. XXVIII. Of the Feast of Sheep-shearings an ancient 
Custom. 282 

Chap. XXIX. Of Michaelmas : Gtcardian Angels the DiS" 
course of the Country People at this time : That it seems ra- 
ther trucy that we are protected by a Number of Angels, than, 
by one particular Genius. 288 

Chap. X.XlL.Ofthe Country Wake: Horjo observed formerly :^ 
A Custom of the Heathens, and regulated by Gregory the 
Great. 296 

Chap. XXXI. Of the Harvest-Supper: A Custom of the Hea- 
thens^ taken from the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, SOS 



TH£ 



ANTIQUITIES 



OF THE 



COMMON PEOPtn, 



CHAP. I. 



Of the Soul-Bell^ its Antiquity^ the Reason of 
its Institution^ the Benefit and Advantage 
ofity an Exhortation to the Use of it accord- 
ing to its first Institution, 

THE Ceremony of Tolling the Bell at the 
time of death, seems to be as ancient 
as the having of bells themselves ; we are told, 
* it was about the seventh century when Bells 
were first in the church, and that venerable 
Bede is the first that mentions them. If this 
be true, then it is as true, that the toUing of the 
bell was instituted about that time; for where 

our 

* Einghamrs Orig. Eccl. Lib, 3. 

B 



2 The Antiquities of 

our countryman mentions the word campana, or 
bell, there it also is, that we find a bell made use 
of for the dead: * For at the death of the Ab- 
bess St Hilda, he tells us, that one of the sisters 
of a distant monastery, as she was sleeping, 
thought she heard the well-known sound of that 
bell, which called them to prayers, when any 
of them had departed this life. But be that 
as it will, it is evident that the Bell was tolled 
upon this occasion about Bede's time, and 
consequently that the ceremony is as ancient 
as his days. 

The reason why this custom was instituted, 
was not, as some seem to imagine, for no other 
end than to acquaint the neighbourhood, 
that such a person was dead ; but chiefly, that 
whoever heard the noise of the bell, should 
put up their prayers for the soul : Thus the 
Father above mentioned tells us again, t That 
she who presided in this monastery, had no 
sooner heard this, than she raised all the sis- 
ters, and called them into the church, where 
she exhorted them to pray fervently, and sing 
a Requiem for the soul of their mother. Cas- 

salion 

* Hsec, tunc in dormitorlo sororum pausans, exaudivit subito in 
acre notum campanae sonum, quo ad orationes excitari vel convocari 
solebant, cum quis eorum de seculo fuisset evocatus. Bei/. EccL 
Hist. Lib. 4. Cap. 23. 

-f* Quod cum ilia audisset, suscitavit cunctas sorores & in eccle- 
siam convocatas, orationibus & psalmis pro anima matris operaro 
dare monuit, Ibi</. 



The Common People. 3 

salion also upon this place of Bede^ says, * That 
the same custom is still observed in England, 
that as soon as any hath departed this life^ 
the bell belonging to the parish he lived in^ 
was immediately tolled^ and for some time — 
And though (says he) the English now deny^ 
that prayers are of any service to the dead ; 
yet I could meet with no other account of this 
ceremony, than that it was a custom of the 
old Church of England. 

And for this reason it is, that this custom 
was first observed, and should be still retained 
among lis, viz. That the prayers of the faith- 
ful may be assisting to the soul ; and certainly 
it might be more profitably retained, were it 
so ordered, that the bell should be tolled be- 
fore the person's departure, as was undoubtedly 
designed when this ceremony was continued^ 
that good men might give him their prayers. 
Was this always so observed, there might be 
some Moses amongst the number of the faith- 
ful, wliose prayers could prevail upon God to 
beat back the Amalekites of Darkness ; some 
M'hose faith might remove a mountain of sins^ 

and 

* Et talis ritus etiam de praesenti servatur Iii Atigiia, ut cunt 
quis decessit, statim campana propriae illius parochise special! quo- 
dam modo sonat per aliquod temporis spatium. — Quamvis Angli ne- 
gent modo orationes & suffragia defunctis proficua j iion aliam 
tamen in hoc ab illis rationetn potui percipere, quam quod talis^ 
sonus sit ritus antiquge ecclesiae Angltcance, Cass&li de vet Sac, 
Christ. Kit. p. 241. 

B2 



4 The Antiquities of 

and some whose tears procure a multitude of 
mercies. O the comioxt oi the forgiveness of 
sins ! Of being guided safely through the sha- 
dow of death ! Of arriving securely at the 
heavenly country ! What is it that prayer 
can't obtain? 

But though the wickedness and impeni- 
tency of the dying person be such, as that 
the prayers of the faithful will not be suffi- 
cient to avert the wrath and punishment of a 
justly incensed God ; yet as this can be only 
known to God, it will not discharge men from 
recommending him to the divine mercy, in 
the most passionate and affectionate manner. 
They thereby express the most laudable zeal, 
the most disinterested charity ; and whilst 
they are so solicitous for the happiness and 
welfare of other men s souls, they cannot but 
be thereby influenced to have the greatest con- 
cern for their own, and be both encouraged 
and directed to proceed with an holy emula- 
tioiifrom strength to strength^ and endeavour 
as the * Apostle advises, to go on to perfection. 

But, alas ! we are fallen into times of such 
irreligion and prejudice, such contempt of an- 
tiquity, and such too great reformation, that 
what with indolence on one hand, and igno- 
rance on the other ; what with no zeal on this 

side, 

* Heb. vl. 1. 



The Common People. 5 

side, and too * false a one on that ; we either 
neglect the most decent ceremonies of reli- 
gion, or we think it is religion to have no 
ceremonies at all. No wonder then, that, in 
the midst of such a crooked and perverse gene- 
ration^ when the most of men are negligent 
of themselves, they are also negligent of others: 
No wonder, that when there is such a ge- 
neral contempt of religion, and men are care- 
less of their own souls, they are not careful for 
the souls of their friends. 

But it is called -f- popish and superstitious ; 
for what true reason, I know not. Did we 

indeed 

* Among the many objections of the Bro\vnIsts, it is laid to the 
charge of the Church of England, that though we deny the doc- 
trine of purgatory^ and teach the contrary^ yet haw well our prac- 
tice suits with it, may be considered in our ringing of hallowed 
Bells for the soul. Bish. Hall. cont. Brown. 

f /// a Vestry Book belonging to the Chapel of All- Saints, in 
Newcastle upon Tyne, // is observable, That the Tolling of the 
Bell is not mentioned in the Parish Accounts, from the year 1643, 
till 1655, when we find it ordered to be tolled again. At a Vestry 
liolden January 21, 1655. Whereas for some years past, the 
collecting of the duty for bell and tolling, hath been forborn 
2,nd laid aside, which hath much lessened the revenue of the 
church, by which, and such-like means, it Is brought into dilapi- 
dations •, and having now taken the same into serious consideration, 
and fully debated the objections made by some against the same, 
and having had the judgment of our minister concerning any su- 
perstition that might be in it j which being made clear, it is this 
day ordered. That from henceforth, the Church Officer appoint- 
ed thereunto, do collect the same, and bring the money unto the 
Church-Wardens, and that those who desire to have the use of the 

bells. 



6 The Antiquities of 

indeed imagine with the Papists, that there is 
any ^ virtue or extraordinary power in a bell, 
that it IS t hallowed by baptism, and drives 
away the spirits of darkness, then it might 
justly be called superstition, and therefore just- 
ly abolished. But when we retain the custom, 
only to procure the prayers of the faithful for 
a departing soul, it would surely be of advan- 
tage to observe it, if the prayers of a righteous 
man avail any thing at all ; which, if we may 
believe an inspired apostle, are of very great 
efficacy and validity. 

Art thou then attending a friend in his last 
moments ? Art thou careful for his soul, and so- 
licitous for his salvation ? Dost thou wish him 
safe through the valley of death to the ever- 
lasting hills ? Wouldst thou have the good an- 
gels protect him, and be his shield against the 
powers of darkness ? In short, wouldst thou 
have him crowned with the joys oi paradise ? 
Be assured then, that the prayers of good men 

will 

Bells, may freely have them as formerly, paying the accustomed 
fees. It is certain they laid it aside, because they thought it super- 
stitious, and it is probable, if they had not wanted money, they had 
not seen the contrary. 

* We call them SotJ-Bells, for that they signify the departure 
of the soul, not for that they help the passage of the soul. Bish. 
Hall cont. Brown, p. 568. 

f Item ut Daemones tinnitu campanarum, Christianos ad preces 
concltantium, terreantur. Formula vero baptizandi seu benedicen» 
di campanas antiqua est. Durant. Lib. C. 22. S. 6. 



The Common People: 7 

will very much contribute to the gaining of 
these things. But how shall they then pray 
for him, if they know not of his departure ? 
And how can they know that, without the tolling 
of the bell? Do thou therefore put in prac- 
tice this decent and profitable custom, not as 
our age generally does, after the death of thy 
friend, but before it ; before he leaves the 
world, when the prayers of good men can assist 
him, and facilitate his journey into the other 
life. 

Or, art thou working in the fields or grind-- 
ing at the mill ? Remember then, when thou 
hearest the sound of the bell for one depart- 
ing, that thou put up thy prayers for him. 
Be thy business what it will, it will always 
permit thee to say at least, LORD, now lettest 
thou thy servant depart in peace : Or to use 
the words of St. Oswald^ when he and his sol- 
diers were ready to be slain. Lord, have mercy 
on the soul oj thy ^ servant. It will not be 

long 

* Oravit ad dominum pro animabus exercitus sui. Unde dicunt 
in proverblo, Deus miserere animabus, dixit Oswaldus cadens in 
terram, Bed. Keel, L, 3. C. 12, // is used (says Bede) even to a 
proverb^ That he died praying j for when the enemy had sur^ 
rounded hirn^ and he saw himself about to be slain, he prayed unto 
the LORD for the souls of his army. Hence it is that the prO' 
verb comes, LORD, have merey upon the soul, as St Oswald said 
Avhen he fell to the earth. Which proverb, in all probaoility, 
hath been the original of this present national saying. 

When the Bell begins to toll, 

LORD, have mercy on the soul. 



8 The Antiquities of 

lonj^, till thou thyself shalt have occasion for 
such prayers, till thou come to die, and enter 
on thy journey to the other state: If then 
thou hast been merciful^ thou shalt obtain 
mercy ; if by thy prayers thou hast assisted the 
souls of the brethren, thou shalt either be re- 
membered in the pray ers of good men, or sure- 
ly these thy prayers for others will be of ser- 
vice to thyself also, at that dreadful hour. 

But now it may be objected, That as the 
bell is seldom tolled till after the person's de- 
parture, it is to no purpose to pray for the 
soul ; nay to pray for it, would be praying 
for the dead : And since that is repugnant to 
the doctrine of our church, our prayers at 
that time had much better be omitted. 

Indeed it is too true, this custom is not so 
common as it should be ; but however, it is 
so much observed, as will be able to vindicate 
the putting up of constant prayers. I know 
several religious families in this place, and I 
hope it is so in other places too, who always 
observe it, whenever the melancholy season 
offers ; and therefore it will at least sometimes 
happen, when we put up our prayers constantly 
at the tolling of the bell, that we shall pray 
for a soul departing. And though it be granted, 
that it will oftener happen otherwise, as the 
regular custom is so little followed ; yet that 
can be no harmful praying for the dead. We 

believe 



The Common People, 9 

believe that the soul is but departing, and it 
is charitably done to offer up our prayers : 
And therefore when it proves otherwise, our * 
prayer shall turn into our own hosom ; and 
like as that peace, which the disciples wished 
to an unworthy house, returned to the disci- 
ples again ; so, though our prayers at that 
time may be of no service to the soul, yet 
they will be of no disservice to us. They will 
return to us again, but it will be no fault to 
have misplaced them. 

PRAYERS upon this OCCASION from 
Bishop TAYLOR. 

I. 

« /^ HOLY and most Gracious Jesus, we 
" V->/ humbly recommend the soul of thy 
" servant into thy hands, thy most merciful 
" hands : Let thy blessed Angels stand in 
" ministry about thy servant, and defend him 
" from the violence and malice of all his ghost- 
ly enemies : And drive far from him all the 
f spirits of darkness. Amen. 

IL 

" T ORD, receive the soul of this thy ser- 
" *— ' vant: Enter not into judgment with 
^* him : Spare him whom thou hast redeemed 

" with 

* Psalm xxxir. 14. 



4( 



10 The Antiquities of 

" with thy most precious blood : And deliver 
" him, for whose sake thou didst suffer death, 
" from all evil and mischief, from the craft and 
" assaults of the devil, from the fear of death, 
" and from everlasting death. Amen. 

Ill, 

" T ORD, impute not unto him the follies 
" •*— ^ of his youth, nor any of the errors and 
" miscarriages of his life ; But strengthen him 
" in his agony, and carry him safely through 
" his last distress. Let not his faith waver, 
" nor his hope fail, nor his charity be disor- 
" dered : Let him die in peace, and rest in hope, 
" and rise in glory. Amen, 

IV. 

" T ORD, we know and believe assuredly, 
" A-i that whatsoever is under thy custody, 
" cannot be taken out of thy hands, nor by all 
" the violences of hell robbed of thy protec- 
'' tion : Preserve the work of thy hands, re- 
" scue him from all evil, and let his portion be 
" with the patriarchs and prophets, with the 
" apostles and martyrs, and all thy holy 
" saints, in the arms of Christ, in the bo- 
" som of felicity, and in the kingdom of God 
" for ever, Amen^ 

V. 



The Common People. 11 

V. 

^^ /^ Saviour of the world, who by thy 
" ^^ cross, and precious blood hast redeem- 
^' ed us, save, and help this thy departing ser- 
" vant, we beseech thee, O Lord. Amen. 

^' f~\ Almighty Lord, who art a most strong 
" ^^ tower to all them that put their trust 
" in thee ; to whom all things in heaven, in 
" earth, and under the earth, do bow and o- 
^' bey ; be now and evermore his defence ; and 
" make him to know and feel, by a powerful 
^* sense of thy goodness, that there is no other 
" name under heaven given to man, in whom, 
^^ and through whom, we may receive health 
*^ and salvation, but only the name of our 
" Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

VII. 

'^ /^ Lord, unto thy gracious mercy and 
'' ^^ protection we commit him. O God 
" the Father, bless him and keep him. O God 
" the Son, make thy face to shine upon him, 
" and be gracious unto him. O God the Ho- 
" ly Ghost, lift up thy countenance upon him, 
^* and give him thy peace, both now and evev- 
^' more. Amen. 

OB- 



( 12 ) 

OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER I. 

OUR author seems of opinion, that the cere- 
mony of tolling a Bell * at the time of 
death, is as ancient as the use of bells. This is 
somewhat improbable. It has rather been an af- 
ter-invention of superstition. Thus praying for 
the dying was improved upon into praying for the 
dead. Bells must have been first used as signals 
to convene the people to their public devotions. 

Mr. Bourne has overlooked a passage in Du- 
rand's Ritual that would have been much to his 
purpose t : — '^ When any one is dying, says that 

" Ritualist, 

* The subsequent etymology of this word has the sanction of 
the learned Sir Henry Spelman : Bell is derived from Pelvis, a 
bason : for before the invention of Bells, not only sounding brass, 
but basons also were used instead of them. (Housewives to this 
day try the soundness of their earthen or china vases by ringing 
them with a finger). Vide Lye's Junii Etymolog. in verbo. ■ 
Mr Wheatly, in his Illustration of the Liturgy, apologizes for 
our retaining this ceremony. " Our Chur<?h (says he) in imita- 
*' tion of the saints in former ages, calls in the minister and 
" others, who are at hand, to assist their brother in his last ex- 
** tremity. In order to this she directs, that when any one is passing 
*' out of this life, a bell should be tolled, &c." It is called from 
thence the Passing Bell. 

\ " Verum aliquo moriente, Campanae debent pulsari : ut Po- 
" pulus hoc audiens, oret pro illo. Pro muliere quidem bis, pro 
" eo quod ipsa invenit Asperitatem. Primo enim fecit hominem 
" alienum a Deo, quare secunda dies non habuit Benedictionem. 
" Pro Viro vero ter pulsatur, quia primo inventa est in Homine 
" Trinitas : Primo enim formatus est Adam de terra, deinde mu- 

lier 



Chapter I. 13 

« Ritualist, bells must be tolled, that the people 
*« may put up their prayers. — Let this be done 
*' twice for a woman and thrice for a man:^* (The 
superstitious reasons he assigns for these numbers 
are too contemptible for translation) " if for a cler- 
*' gyman, as many times as he had orders^ and at the 
" conclusion a peal on all the bells, to distinguish 
" the quality of the person for whom the people 
*' are to put up their prayers. A bell too must be 
" rung while we are conducting the corpse to 
" church, and during the bringing it out of the 
*' church to the grave." I think this a curious and 
pertinent quotation. It seems to account for a 
custom still preserved in the North, of making 
numeral distinctions at the conclusion of this Cere- 
mony — wm^ knells for a man, sijc for a woman, and 
three for a child, which are without doubt the ves- 
tiges of this ancient injunction of popery. 

The quotation our Author gives us from Bede* 
is very apposite, as is that from Cassalion's occa- 
sional 

" lier ex Adam, postea homo creatus est ab utroque, et ita est ibi 
\ ** Trinitas. (I ! !) Si autem Clericus sit, tot vicibus compulsatur, 
*' quot ordines habuit ipse. Ad ultimura vero compulsari, debet 
** cum omnibus Campanis, ut ita sciat populus pro quo sit oranduiti. 
" Debet etiam compulsari quando ducimus ad Ecclesiam, et quando 
" de Ecclesia ad tumulum deportatur." 

Vide Durandi Rationale, p. 21. 13. 
Durand flourished about the end of the 12th century. 
In Ray's Collection of old English proverbs I find the following 
couplet : 

When thou dost hear a toll, or knell. 

Then think upon thy passing bell. 

* I have examined this passage in King Alfred's Saxon Version 

of Bede In rendering Campana, I find he has used Clus^an, 

which properly signifies a Clock {Bellan is in the margin). Clock 

is the old German name for a bell, and hence the French call one 

une 



14 Observations on 

sional comment. The latter however appears to 
no great advantage as an antiquary, when he 
tells us " he could meet with no other account of 
" this ceremony, than that it was a custom of the 
" old church of England." The passage above 
cited from Durand would have informed him from 
whence it must have been imported into this king- 
dom. 

It may gratify the curiosity of some to peruse 
the following general observations on bells *. — I 
have not been able to ascertain precisely the date 
of this useful invention. The ancients had some 
sort of bells. I find the word Tintinnahula^ (which 
we usually render bells J in Martial, Juvenal, and 
Suetonius. The Romans were summoned by these 
(of whatever size or form they were) to their hot 
baths, and to the business of public places. 

The large kind of bells noAv in use are said id 
have been invented by Paulinus, bishop of Nola, 
in Campania, (whence the Latin name CampanaJ 

about 

une Cloche. There were no clocks In England in Alfred's time. 
He is said to have measured his time by Wax Candles, marked 
with circular lines to distinguish the hours, — I would infer from 
this, that our clocks have certainly been so called from the Bel/s 
in them. — Mr Strutt confesses he has not been able to trace the 
date of the invention of clocks in England.— Stow tells us they 
were commanded to be set up in churches in the year 612. A 
gross mistake ! and into which our honest Historian must have been 
led by his misunderstanding the word Cloca, a Latin term coined 
from the old German name for a BelL For Clocks therefore read 
Belis, 

* Spelman, in his very learned Glossary, verb. Campana, has 
preserved two monkish lines, in which all the ancient offices of 
bells seem to be included. 

Laudo Deum verum, Plebem voco, congrego Clerum, 
Defunctos ploro, pestem fugo, Festa decoro. 
We praise the true God, call the people, convene the clergy^ 
lament the dead, dispel pestilence, and grace festivals. 



Chapter I. 15 

about the year 400 *, and to have been generally 
used in churches about the 600th year of the 
Christian ^ra. Mr. Bingham, t however, thinks 
this a vulgar error. In short, we are left much 
in the dark concerning the antiquities of the ear- 
lier ages of the church. — Ecclesiastical writers 
frequently clash in their accounts. % The Jews 
used trumpets for bells : The Turks permit not 
the use of bells : The Greek church under them 
still follow their old custom of using wooden 
boards, or iron plates full of holes, which they hold 
in their hands, and knock with a hammer or mal- 
let, to call the people together to church || : China 
has been remarkably famous for its bells — Father 
le Compte tells us, that at Pekin there are seven 
bells, each of which weighs one hundred and 
twenty thousand pounds. 

Baronius tt informs us, that Pope John XIII. 
A. D. 968, consecrated a very large new-cast bell 

in 

* Spelman's Gloss, verb. Campana, Trusler's Chronology, 
f Antiquities of Christ. Church, Vol. I. p. 316. 
X Josephus. 
11 See Dr Smith's Account of the Greek Church. He was an 
eye-witness of this remarkable custom, which Durand tells us is 
retained in the Romish church on the three last days of the week 
preceding Easter. Durandi Rational, p. 331. 3. 

Bingham informs us of an invention before bells for convening 
religious assemblies in monasteries. It was going by turns to 
every one's cell, and with the knock of a hammer calling the 
Monks to Church. The instrument was called the Night-Signal 
and the l^akening-Mal/et. — In many of the Colleges at Oxford the 
Bible Clerk knocks at every room door with a key, to waken the 
students in the morning, before he begins to ring the chapel bell. — 
A vestige it should seem of the ancient monastic custom. 

XX Cum vero post hsec Johannes Papa in urbem rediisset, con- 
tigit primariam Lateranensis Ecclesi^ Campanjun mirse magnitu- 

din is 



l6 Observations on 

in the Lateran church, and gave it the name 
o^John, — This is the first instance I meet with of 
what has been since called " the baptizing of 
bells/' a superstition which the reader may find 
ridiculed in the Romish * Beehive.— The vestiges 
of this custom may be yet traced in England in 
Tom of Lincoln, and great Tom (" the mighty 
Tom") at Christ Church, Oxford. 

Egelrick t, abbot of Croyland, about the time of 
King Edgar, cast a ring of six bells, to all which 
he gave names, as Bartholomew^ Bethhelm, Turketul, 
&c. The historian tells us, " his predecessor Tur- 
" ketul had led the way in this Jaiia/," 

The custom of rejoicing with bells on high fes- 
tivals, Christmas-day, &c. is derived to us from 
the times of popery t. The ringing of bells on 
the arrival of emperors, bishops, abbots, &c. at 
places under their oxvn jurisdiction^ was also an old 
custom II : Whence we seem to have derived the 

modern 



dinis recens aere fusam, super Campanile elevari, quam prius idem 
Pontifex sacris ritibus Deo consecravit atque Johannis nomine nun- 
cupavit. Baronii Annal. a Spondano. A. D. 968, p. 871. 

* Romish Beehive, p. 17. 

f Collier's Ecclesiastical History, Vol. I. p. 198. 

jj: Durand tells us, " In festis, quce ad gratiam pertinent, Cam- 
" panae tumultuosius tinniunt et prolixius concrepant." Rational, 
p. 21. 12. 

II Campanarum pulsatio in adventu Episcoporum et Abbatum in 
Ecclesias, qu« iis subditae sunt, antiquus mos. 

Vide Du Cange. Gloss, verb. Campana, 

Tradit Continuator Nangii. An. 1378. Carolum quartum Impe- 
ratorem cum in Galliam venit, nullo Campanarum sonitu exceptum 
in Urbibus, quod id sit signum dominii : " Et est assavoir que en 
" la dite Ville, et semblablement partoutes les autres Villes, ou il 
" a este, tant en venant a Paris, comme en son retour, il n'a este 
*' receu en quelque Eglise a Procession, ne Cloches onnees a son 
" venir, ne fait aucun signe de que/que domination^ &c." Ibid. 



Chapter I. 1? 

ihodern compliment of welcoming persons of con- 
sequence by a chearful peal. 

Durand *, whose superstition often makes one 
smile, is of opinion that Devils are much afraid of 
bells, and fly away at the sound of them. That 
Ritualist would have thought it a prostitution of 
the sacred utensils, had he heard them rung, as 
they are here^ with the greatest impropriety, oil 
winning a long main at cock-fighting.-— He would 
perhaps have talked in another strain, and have 
represented these aerial enemies as lending their 
assistance to ring them t. 

In the populous. Commercial Town, from 
whence I date these observations, church bells have 
not been confined to ecclesiastical uses ; they have 
also with great propriety been adapted to civil pur- 
poses : — The tolling of the great bell of St Nicho- 
las' church here, is ail ancient signal for our Bur- 
gesses to convene on Guild-days, and on the day 
of electing Magistrates :— Our little carnival t on 
Pancake Tuesday commences by the same signal : 
— A bell, usually called the thiej and || reever bell^ 
proclaims our two annual fairs : — A peculiar kind 
of alarm is given by a bell on accidents of fire : 

—A 

* Ut dsemoties timentes fuglant — Timent enim audltis Tubis Ec- 
cleslae mmtantis, scillcit cainpanis 5 sicut aliquis Tyrannus timet, 
audiens in Terra sua tubas alicujus potentis regis inimici sui. 

Durand. Rational. Lib. 1. c. 4. 

-f There is a curious Passage in Fuller's History of Waltham 
Abbey, A. D. 1542, the 34lh of Henry VHI. relative to the 
Wages of Bell-ringers. It is preserved from the Church-\va.rden's 
Account. *' Item, paid for ringing at the Prince his coming a 

X Vide Pancake Tuesday in the Appendix. 
II Reever^ a Robber. To reeve, to spoil or rob. 

Speght's Glossary to Chaucer, 

c 



18 Observations on 

— A bell is rung at six every morning (except 
Sundays and holidays) with a view, it should seem, 
of calling up the artisans to their daily employ- 
ment ; — and we retain also a vestige of the old 
Norman curfew * at eight in the evening. — Our 
bells are mitffled on the 30th of January ; for which 
I find no precedent of antiquity ; their sound on 
that occasion is peculiarly plaintive. 

Distinction of rank is preserved here in the toll- 
ing of the soul-bell ; an high fee excludes the 
common people, and appropriates to the death of 
persons of consequence the tolling the great bell 
of each church on this occasion. — With us too 
(as Durand orders above) a bell is tolled, and 
sometimes chimes are rung^ a little before the bu- 
rial, and while they are conducting the corpse to 
church : They chime or ring too in some places 
while the grave is filling up. 

There seems to be nothing intended by tolling 
the passing bell at present, but to inform the 
neighbourhood of any person's death, and I am 
much mistaken if our author's X very pious exhor- 
tation 



* William the Conqueror, in the first year of his reign, com- 
manded that in every town and village, a bell should be rung 
every night at eight o'clock, and that all people should then put 
out their fire and candle, and go to bed. The ringing of this 
bell was called in French, Curfew •, i. e. Cover-fire. Ihid. 

f Mr Bourne complains in his Preface of the invidious behavi* 
our of some of his townsmen : — It is beneath a man, conscious of 
inward worthy to complain of that which he ought always to des- 
pise. — Posterity seems to have done him very ample justice for their 
insults : — A Copy of the Antiquitates Vulgares has of late fetched 
seven or eight shillings in London.— Many perhaps will think the 

purchasers 



Chapter I. 19 

tation will ever be able to revive the primitive use 
of it. 

1 know not how the present generation will re- 
lish his reflections in this and many subsequent 
chapters: Serious animadversions of this sort seem 
by no means pleasing to the refined taste oiour age. 
We plainly discover an intention of uniting enter- 
tainment with utility in his little sermons ; which, 
it must be confessed, are not always delivered in 
the most agreeable manner. — He does not always 
stick by his text : His inferences are often Jar^tch^ 
ed :— His good meaning, however, must atone for 
some little deficiencies of stile, SLXid penury of com- 
position. — Men, provided with keen appetites for 
this kind of entertainment^ will content themselves 
with the homely manner in which he has served it 
up to them. — Indeed squeamishness in this particu- 
lar wowldi but ill suit the study of the English An- 
tique. A great deal of wholesome meat of this sort 
has been brought on upon "wooden platters. Nice 
guests will think our famous old cook^ Mr Hearne 
himself, but a very coarse and greasy kind of host. 

In fine, I have not presumed to violate my au- 
thor*s text, lest I should seem to play the empiric, 
2ind\dLy the foundation of my own little structure 
upon the ruins of his. 

2 CHAP. 

purchasers mistook an accident for merit, and confounded the idea 
of scarceness with that of intrinsic value.— I received this infor- 
mation from one of the society of antiquaries, who understands the 
subject too well himself to be mistaken in his opinion of the merit 
of those who have written upon it. On the weight of that opi- 
nion alone I have been induced to preserve every line that our au- 
thor has left us in that work. 



20 The Antiquities^ ^^e. 



CHAP. 11. 



Of Watching with the Dead, 

WATCHING with the corpse was an an- 
cient custom of the Church, and every 
where practised. They were wont to sit by itj 
from the time of its death till its exportation to 
the grave, either in the house it died in, or in 
the church itself. Agreeable to this, we read 
in St Austin^ That as they watched his 
mother Monictti * Euodius took the Psalter^ 
and began to sing a psalrn^ which the whole 
family answered with that of the psalmist 
David^ I will sing of mercy and judgment ; nn- 
to thee, O LORD, will I sing. And we are told, 
^f- That at the death of St. Ambrose, his body 
was carried into the church before day, the 
same hour he died. It was the night be- 
fore Easter, and they watched with him there. 
How unlike to this ancient custom of watch- 
ing, is the modern one, of locking up the corpse 

in 

* Psaltcrium arripuit Euodius, & cantare caepit psalmum, cui re- 
spondebamus omnes domus : Miscrecordiam & judicium cantabo tibi 
Domine. Aug, Lib. 9. Confes. C. 12. 

f Ad ecclesiam antelucana hora qua defunetus est, corpus ipsius 
portatum est : ibique eadem fiiit nocte, quam vigilavimus in pascha. 
Greg. Turon* de Gloria^ Confes, C, 104. 



Observations, cf-c. 21 

in a room, and leaving it there alone ? How 
unlike to this decent manner of watching, is 
that watching of the vulgar, which is a scene 
of sport, and drinking, aucl lewdnesvS ? Watch- 
ing at that time with a dear friend, is the last 
kindness and respect we can shew him ; and 
how unfriendly is it, to change it into ne- 
gligence and too great resignation ? How un- 
christian, instead of a becoming sorrow and 
decent gravity, to put on an unbecoming joy 
and undecent pastime. 



OBSERVATIONS 

O N 

CHAPTER 11. 

OUR author, for what reason I know not, has 
omitted the vulgar name given here to this 
watching with a corpse. It is <:aUed the lake-wake ; 
a word plainly derived from the Anglo-Saxon Lie 
or Lice a corpse^ aijd Waecce, a wake, vigil, or 
watching. It is used in this sense by Chaucer, in 
his Knight's Tale : 

Shall not be told for me. 

How that Arcite is brent to ashen cold, 
Ne how that there the liche-wake was yhold 
All that night long. 

C 3 Thus 



22 Observations on 

Thus also I read in the article Walkin^ in the 
learned * Glossary to Douglas' Virgil, " Properly 
" like-wakes (Scotch) are the meetings of the 
" friends of the deceased, a night, or nights before 
" the burial." 

I am not satisfied with either of the quotations 
he has given us in proof of the antiquity of the 
custom : They are indeed something to the pur- 
pose ; but in the last cited passage, one would be 
inclined to think, from the words of the original, 
that the watching was on account of its being 
the Vigil of Easter-day. 

The subsequent extract from one of the ancient 
councils quoted in Durant, t p. 232, is, I think, 
much more apposite : — " Now it must be observed, 
<' that psalms are wont to be sung, not only when 
*' the corpse is conducted to church, but that the 
*' ancients watched on the night before the burial, 
" and spent the Vigil in singing psalms." — So also 
Gregory^ in the epistle that treats of the death of 
his sister Macrina, has these words : X " Now 
*' when the nightly watching^ as is usual," &c. 

I could give numerous passages from the an- 
cients, were there any doubt of the antiquity of a 
custom, which probably ow^es its origin to the 
tenderest affections of human nature, and has per- 
haps on that account been used from the infancy 
of time. 

I find 

* By the late Mr Ruddiman, as is generally supposed. 

f Porro observandum est, nedum Psalmos cani consuctum, cum 
funus ducitur, sed etiam nocte^ qua: pracedit funus^ veteres vigilas- 
se, nocturnasque vigilias canendis Psalmis egisse. 

X Cum igitur (inquit) nocturna pervigilaiio,uX.\n Martynim ce- 
lebritate canendis Psalmis yerfecta esset & Crepusculum advenisset, 
&c. Durant, p. 232. 



Chapter II. 23 

I find in Durant a pretty exact account of 
some of the ceremonies used at present in what 
we call laying out^ or streeking * in the north t : — 
Mention is made of the closing the eyes and lips 
— the decent washing — dressing — and wrapping 
in a linen shroud t : — Of which shroud Pruden- 
tins, the Christian poet, has these words : 

Candore nitentia claro 
Prastendere lintea mos est. 

Hymn, ad Exequias Defunct. 

The interests of our woollen manufactories have 
interfered with this ancient rite in England. 

It is customary at this day in Northumberland, 
to set a pewter ^toe, containing a little salty || upon 

the 

* To streek, to expand, or stretch out, from tlie Anglo-Saxon 
srjiecan, extendere. See Benson's Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary in 
verbo, — A Streeking-hoard 13 that on which they stretch out and 
compose the limbs of the dead body. 

f Quinetiam Sanctqrum Corpora, manibus erectis supinisque ex- 
cipere — occluder e oculos — ora obiurare -^decexiXei ornar^ — lav are 
accurate & linteo funebri involvere, &c. 

I)urant. de RItibus, p. 224. 

Mr Pennant, in his Tour in Scotland, tells us, that on the death 
of a Highlander, the corpse heing stretched on a board, and cover- 
ed with a coarse linen 'wrapper, the friends lay on the breast of the 
deceased a wooden platter, containing a small quantity of salt and 
earth, separate and unmixed j the earth, an emblem of the cor- 
ruptible body ', the salt an emblem of the immortal spirit. — All 
fire is extinguished where a corpse is kept -, and it is reckoned so 
ominous for a dog or a cat to pass over it, that the poor animal is 
killed without mercy. 

X The face-cloth too is of great antiquity. — Mr Strutt tells us, 
that after the closing the eyes, &c. a linen cloth was put over 
the face of the deceased. — Thus we are told, that Henry the 
Pourth, in his last illness seeming to be dead, his chamberlain co- 
vered his face with a /zW/z cloth. English iEra, p. 105. 

II Salem abhorrere constat Diabolum, et ratipne optima nititur, 

4 quia 



24 Observations on 

the corpse ; as also a candle in some places. — The 
learned Moresin tells us, " That salt is the emblem 
" of eternity and immortality : It is not liable to 
*^ putrefaction itself, and it preserves things that 
'' are seasoned with it from decay." — He gives us 
also his conjecture on the use of a ca7idle * on this 
occasion : " It was an Egyptian hieroglyphic for 
" life, meant to express the ardent desire of hav- 
" ing had the life of the deceased prolonged." 

Our funeral entertainments are of old date. — 
Cecropst is said to have instituted them, for the 
purposes of renev/ing decayed friendship amongst 
old friends, &c. — Moresin tells us, that in Eng- 
land they were so profuse on this occasion, that 
it cost less to pmiion off a daughter than to biiry a 

dead 

quia sai aiteniitatis est et immortalitatis signum, iieque putrcdine 
neque corruptione infestatur unquam, scd ipse ab his omnia vendicat. 

Deprav. Rel. &c. p. 154. 
Considered in reference to this symbolical explication, how beau^ 
tiful is that expression, " Ye are the salt of the earth !" 

* Lucerna, seu c and el a ^ mortuis cadaver ibus semper apponitur in 
domibus et templis, quamdiu supra terram sunt — an hinc ducto 
more, oculo, vel lucerna incensa veteres ^gyptii vitam signinca- 
bant, unde veteres soliti sunt lucernas ar denies sepulchris impo- 
nere, hac saltern ratione significantes se mortuorum quamdiu pcs- 
sent vitas producturos. Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 89. 

Thus Mr Pope, conversant in papal Antiquities : 

" Ah hopeless lasting flames ! like those that bum 
" To light the dead, and warm th' unfruitful urn." 

Eloise to Abelard. 

Jubet Papa Cadaveris Expiationes fieri, ut quod valde immun- 
dum est, aspergatur aqua benedicta, thurificetur, exorcisetur sacris 
orationibus, illustretur sacris iuminibus, quousque supra terram 
fuerit, &c. Moresin Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 26. 

f Convivia funebxia Cecrops primus instituit prudenter, ut amici 
amicitia m fortasse remissam renov^rent, & pro uno defuncto acqui- 
lerent h^s mediis plures amicos, &c. — In Anglia ita strenue banc 
curam obeunt, ut viliori pretio constct elocatio JJli(r, quam tixcri 
mortuce inhumatio. Ibid. p. 4-1. 



Chapter 11. 25 

dead wife. These burial feasts are still retained 
in the north. 

We have the very coffin of the present age de- 
scribed in Durant *. 

It appears that among the primitive Christians 
the corpse was sometimes kept four days t. Pe- 
lagia t, in Gregory of Turon, requests of her son, 
that her corpse may not be interred till after^wr 
days. 

The payment of mortuaries is of great antiquity : 
It was anciently done by leading or driving a 
horse or cow, &c. before the corpse of the deceas- 
ed at his funeral. It was considered as a gift left 
hy a man at his death, by way of recompence for 
all failures in the payment of tithes and oblations, 
and called a corse-present. It is mentioned in the 
national council of Engsham, about the year 1006. 
Some antiquaries have been led into a mistake by 
this leading a horse before the corpse, and have er- 
roneously represented it as peculiar to military 
characters ||. 

The abuse of this vigil, or lake-walce is of pretty 
old standing.— I find the following account of 
f ^ a canon 

* Corpus lotum et sindone obvolutum, ac loculo conditum, vete- 
res in Caenaculis, seu Tricliniis exponebant. p 225. > 

Loculus is a Box or Chest. — Thus I find coffins called Kists ; 
I. e. Chests^ in our old Registers. 

f It was customary in- the Christian? burials of the Anglo-Sax- 
ons, to leave the head and shoulders of the corpse uncovered till 
the time of burial, that relg,tions, &.c. might take a last view of 
their deceased friend. To this day we yet retain (in our way) 
this old custom, leaving the coffin of the deceased unscrewed till 
the time of burial. Strutt, Vol. I. p. Q6. Manners, &c. 
, X Postulabat a Filio, ne earn, ante diem quartum sepeliret. 

IJ Collier's Ecclesiast. Hist. Vol. 1. p, 487, 



26 Observations on 

a canon, made at the provincial Synod held in 
London in the time of Edward III. in Collier's 
Ecclesiastical History, vol. I. p. 546. " The 10th 
^^ canon endeavours to prevent the disorders com- 
*^ mitted at people's watching a corpse before bu- 
" rial. Here the synod takes notice, that the de- 
'' sign of people's meeting together upon such oc- 
'' casions, was to join their prayers for the benefit 
" of the dead person ; that this ancient and ser- 
*' viceable usage was over-grown with supersti- 
" tion, and turned into a convenience for theft 
*^ and debauchery : Therefore for a remedy against 
" this disorder, 'tis decreed, that upon the death 
" of any person, none should be allowed to watch 
" before the corpse in a private house, excepting 
*^ near relations and friends of the deceased, and 
" such as offered to repeat a set number of psalms 
" for the benefit of his soul." The penalty an- 
nexed is excommunication. — This is also men- 
tioned in Becon's * Reliques of Rome, and com- 
prised in the catalogue of those crimes that were 
anciently cursed with bell^ bookj and candle. 

Mr Bourne complains of the sport, drinking, 
and lewdness used at these lake-wakes t in his 

time. 



* Fol. 253. 

f Mr Pennant, In describing Highland ceremonies, calls this 
meeting the Late-wake ; I suspect he has put t for a k. Thus, 
in describing Coken^ 2. romantic seat near Chester-le-street, he 
gpells it erroneously Coker. His words are, " The Late-wake 
** is a ceremony used at funerals : The evening after the death 
" of any person, the relations or friends of the deceased meet 
*' at the house, attended by bag-pipe or fiddle ; the nearest of kin, 
" be it wife, son, or daughter, opens a melancholy ball, dancing 
" and greeting, i, e, crying violently at the same time : and this 

" continues 



Chapter II. 27 

time. — They still continue to resemble too much 
the ancient Bacchanalian orgies. — An instance of 
depravity that highly disgraces human nature ! It 
would be treating the serious subject with two 
much levity, to say, that if the inconsiderate 
wretches, who abuse such solemn meetings, think 
at all, they think with Epicurean licentiousness, 
that since life is so uncertain, no opportunity 
should be neglected of transmitting it; and that the 
loss, by the death of one relation, should be made 
up as soon as possible by the hirth of another. 

Our author uses a remarkable metaphor in this 
passage ; he talks, or rather babbles, concerning 
" putting on undecent pastime." — ^If one were 
disposed to banter, it might be observed, that a 
*wardrobe of " undecent pastime" must consist of 
very light habits ! It may be questioned also, whe-i 
ther in any affliction we can discover " too great 
f^ resignation ?" 

CHAP. 

" continues till day-light, but with such gambols and frolics 
" among the younger part of the company, that the loss which 
*' occasioned them is often more than supplied by the consequences 
** of that night. — If the corpse remains unburied for two nights, 
" the same rites are renewed. Thus, Scythian-like, they rejoice 
" at the deliverance of the friends out of this life of misery." — 
He tells us in the same place, " that the Coranich^ or singing at 
** funerals, is still in use in some places. The songs are generally 
** in praise of the deceased ; or a recital of the valiant deeds of 
** him or ancestors". 

Perhaps Mr Pennant, in spelling Late-wake, wished to have 
the name derived from watching late .-—None can suppose this, 
but those who are totally ignorant of our ancient language, which 
is preserved in all its prispne purity in the vulgar dialect of thq 
north. 



28 The Antiquities of 

CHAP. III. 

Of following the Corpse to the Grave^ what it 
is an emblem of: Of carrying Greens in 
our Hand, what it signifies, what use it may 
be of: Of Psalmody, its antiquity, the ad- 
vantage and xise of it. 

IT hath been observed among all nations, 
both in the heathen and the Christian 
world, as a becoming and profitable cere- 
mony, to follow the corpse to the grave. The 
heathens observed it, * because it presented 
to them, what would shortly follow, how 
they themselves should be so carried out, and 
laid down in the grave. The going of the 
corpse before, shewed that their friend was gone 
before them to the state of death; and their fol- 
lowing after, was as mucl> as to say, that they 
must also in a short time follow him thither. 
For this reason the Christian also observes 
the custom, and maVj if he pleases, as he fol- 
lows the body- to the grave, entertain himself 
with a pious meditation upon it, in such hke 
thoughts as these of the Psalmist, •f* Thou GOD 

art 

* Praccedenti pompa fiinebri, vivi sequuntur, tanquam haudmultft 
post morlturi. A/, ab, Aiex, Lib, 3. />. 67, Et Po/. Vir, Lib, 6. 
C. 10.i>.405. 

f Psal. xc. 



The Common People. 29 

art from everlasting, and zmrld without end: 
Thou turnest man to destruction ; again thou 
say est. Come again, ye children of men. For 
a thousand years in thy sight are but as 
yesterday, seeing that is past as a watch in 
the night. As soon as thou scatterest them, 
they are even as a sleep f and fade away sud- 
denly like the grass. In the morning it is 
green and groweth up, but in the evening it 
is cut down, dried up, and withered. Do thou 
therefore, LORD, -f let me know my end, 
and the number of my days, that I may be 
certified how long [have to live. Behold thou 
hast made my days^ as it were a span long, 
and mine age is nothing in respect of thee ; 
and verily every man living is altogether va- 
nity. And now, LORD, what is my hope ? 
Truly my hope is even in thee. Deliver me 
from all mine offences, and spare me a little 
that I may recover my strength, before I go 
hence and be no more seen. Such thoughts as 
these of our friend's, and of our own mortah- 
ty, would excite us to prepare for our own change. 
And as this form of procession is an emblem 
of our dying shortly after our friend, so the 
carrying of ivy, or laurel, or rosemary, or 
some of those ever-greens, is an emblem of 
the soul's immortahty. It is as much as 

to 

+ Psal. xxxix. 



30 The Antiquities of 

to say, that though the body be dead, yet the 
soul is ever-green and always in life : It is not 
like the body, and those other greens which 
die arid revive agaiii at their proper seasons, 
no autumn or winter can make a change in 
it, but it is unalterably the same, perpetually 
in life, and never dying. 

The Romans^ and other heathens, upon this 
occasion, made use bf cypress, which being 
once euti will never flourish nor grow any more, 
as an emblem of their dying for ever, and be- 
ing no more in life. But instead of that, the 
ancient Christians used the things before men- 
tioned ; they * laid them under the corpse in 
the grave, to signify, that they who die in 
Christ, do not cease to live. For though, 
as to the body they die to the world, yet, as to 
their souls, they live to God. 

And as the cstrrying of these ever-greens 
is an emblem of the soul's immortality, so it 
is also of the resurrection of the body : For 
as these herbs are not entirely plucked up, but 
only cut down, and will, at the returning 
season, revive and spring up again ; so the 
body, like them, is but cut down for a while, 

and 

* Haedera quoque vel laurus & hujusmodi, quae semper servant 
virorem, in sarchophago corpori substemuntur, ad significanduni 
quod qui moriuntur in Christo, vivere nee desinunt. Nam licet 
mundo moriantur secundum corpus, tamen secundum animam vi- 
vunt & reviviscunt Deo. Durand, RiL Lib, 1, C, 35. de Offic, 
Mort, 



the Common People, 31 

and will rise and shoot up again at the resur- 
rection. For, as the prophet Isaiah says *, Our 
hones shall flourish like an herb. 

It was customary -f among the ancient Jews^ 
as they returned from the grave, to pluck up 
the grass two or three times, and then throw 
it behind them, saying these words of the 
Psalmist, They shall flourish out of the city like 
grass upon the earth : Which they did, to 
shew, that the body, though dead, should 
spring up again as the grass. Thus by these 
two ancient ceremonies, we have placed before 
t)Ur eyes-, our mortality and immortality ; the 
one speaks the death of the body, the other 
the life of the soul, nay, and the life of the 
body too ; for like that herb we carry, it is 
not quite plucked up, but shall one day be 
alive again When it hath lain in the earth 
the winter season, the continuance of this world, 
and the warmth and influence of the spring 
is come, the joyful spring of the resurrection, 
it shall be enlivened, and shoot up, and eter- 
nally flourish. X For this corruptible must 
put on incorruption^ and this mortal must put 
on immortality. O Deaths where is thy sting ! 
O Gravcy where is thy victory ! Thanks he to 
GODy who giveth us the victory through our 
LOUD JESUS CHRIST. 

There 

* Isa. Ixui. 14, f Greg. C. 26. t 1 Cor. xv. 53. 



32 The Ahiiquities of 

There is another custom used in some places/ 
at the procession of funerals, which pays a 
due honour to the dead, and gives comfort 
and consolation to the living ; and that is, the 
carrying out the dead with psalmody. This 
was an ancient custom of the church ; for in 
some of the earliest ages, they carried out their 
dead to the grave with singing of Psalms and 
Hymns. Thus Socrates tells us, that when 
the body of Baby las the martyr was removed 
by the order of Julian the apostate, the Chris- 
tians * with their women and children, rejoiced 
and sung Psalms all the way, as they bore the 
corpse from Dauphne to Antioch : Thus was 
Paula t buried at Bethlehem ; thus did St 
Anthony bury Pau/ the hermit; and thus 
were the generality of men buried after the 
three first centuries, when persecution ceased. 
In imitation of this, it is still customary in several 
parts of this nation, to carry out the dead with 
singing of psalms andhymns of triumph; to shew 
that they have ended their spiritual warfare, that 
they have finished their course with joy, and are 
become conquerors ; which surely is a matter 
of no little consolation for the loosing of our 
friend. And how becoming is it to pay such 

honour 

* Hoikata, (b'c. Soc. Lib. 3. C, 17.— f Epitaphium Pau7t\ 
Hterom, Ep. 27.— Ibid, in Vit, Paul. 



The Common People. 33 

honour to the body ! How is it imitating the 
blessed angels, who rejoiced at meeting of the 
soul, and carrying it to Heaven. For as they 
rejoice at her conversion on earthy so most cer- 
tainly they rejoice at her going to heaven. 
And as they rejoice at the carrying of the soul 
thither, so we, in imitation of them, at the car- 
rying out the body to the grave. They re- 
joice that the soul hath got out of a world of 
sin, we that the body out of a world of trou- 
ble ; they that the soul can sin no more, we 
that the body can no more suffer ; they that 
the soul enjoys glory and happiness^ we that 
the body rests from its labours. 

When therefore we attend the corpse of a 
neighbour or relation, and this decent ceremo- 
ny is performed, let it also have a share of our 
thoughts, and excite in us joy and comfort, 
and thanksgiving and praise. And when these 
customs are so observed, they will be of great 
advantage to us, making us still fitter for the 
heavenly life. And surely a thing of this 
good and profit, is much to be preferred to 
what hath in it nothing but undecency and ir- 
reverence ; such is our laughing and jesting, 
and telling of news^ when we accompany a 
neighbour to the grave. There is indeed a 
mean to be observed, as in all other things, 
so in this ; we must neither be too sad, nor 

D to© 



34f Observations on 

too merry ; we must not be so merry as to 
throw off all the signs of affection and love, all 
the tokens of esteem and humanity ; nor must 
we ^ sorrow even as others, which have no hope. 
But we must -f* be so merry as to be able to 
sing psalms^ and so afflicted as to be excited to 
pray. 

* 1 Thess. i. 4. 13. f Jam. v. 15. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER III. 

THE ancient Christians testified their abhor- 
rence of heathen rites: They rejected there- 
fore the pagan custom of burning the dead, de- 
positing the inanimate body entire in the ground. 
— The carrying forth to the church, and from 
thence to the grave, was performed by near rela- 
tions, or persons of such dignity as the circum- 
stances of the deceased required. — Singing of 
psalms^ in exultation for the conquest of the de- 
ceased friend over helly sin, and death, was the 
great ceremony used in all funeral processions 
among the ancient Christians. — * St Jerom, in the 
epitaph of Paula, informs us, that bishops were 

what 

* Paulam translatam fuisse Episcoporum manibus, cervicem ferc- 
tro subjicientibus, Durant, p. 227. 



Chapter III. S5 

what in modern language we call under-hearers at 
her funeral. — The learned Durant * gives us many 
quotations from the ancient Christian writers, to 
prove that those of the highest orders of clergy 
thought it not a reproach to their dignity to carry 
the bier. How different an idea of this office pie- 
vails in our times ! — Something instead of the pall \ 
used at present to cover the coffin, appears by the 
same writer to have been of great antiquity. — He 
speaks also of hlack t used in mourning. — St Cy- 
prian seemed to inveigh against it, as the indication 
of sorrow upon an event which to the Christian 
was matter of joy. — Mr Bourne takes no notice 
of torches ||, which are still in use on particular 
occasions in funeral processions.— It appears by 
Durantj that this custom has been of a long stand- 

D 2 ing. 

* Duranti de Ritibus, p. 227. 

-f- In nobilibus, aureum veiamentum super feretrum, quo corpus 
obtegeretur, apponi consuetum. Ibid. p. 225. 

% Induebantur atris vestibus, prGesettIm apud Gallos— Hunc ta- 
men lugubrem et atrum amictum videtur imj^robare Cyprian. Serm. 
de Mortalitate. Ibid, 

II Dum autem Funus eflPerebalur, faces prseferebantiir — Con- 
stantli Corpus delatum fuisse nocturnis cantionibus et cereorum 
ignibus. Ibid. p. 228. 

Gallos funus honorifice curasse et multitudinem Lutninutn, splen- 
dorem sibi etiam per diem vendicantem, repercusso solis radio, re- 
fulsisse. Ibid. 

Mr Strutt tells us the burning of torches was very honourable. 
— To have a great many was a special mark of esteem in the per- 
son who made the funeral to the deceased. 

Vol. 11. p. 108, of his Antiquities. 
Thus in the epitaph of Bude : 
QuQ n'a-t-on plus en Torches dependu, 
Suivant la mode accoutumee en Sainte f 
Afin qu'il soit par Pobscur entendu, 
Que des Francois /a /umiere, est eteintci 

St Genevieve, Parrt, 



S6 Observations on 

ing. — We farther learn from this ritualist, that it 
was customary to invite the poor * to funerals. 

I find a beautiful thought on this subject t, in 
St Ambrose's funeral oration on Satyrus, cited 
by Durant, which I flatter myself will be thought 
to have deserved a translation : — " The poor also 
*' shed their tears — precious and fruitful tears ! 
" that washed away the sins of the deceased. — 
'' They let fall floods o^ redeeming tears, f 

Funeral sermons also are of great antiquity 1|. 

Doles were used at funerals, as we learn from 
St Chrysostom §, to procure rest to the soul of 
the deceased, and that he might find his judge 
propitious. 

Dr Browne, in his Urne Burial^ observes, that the 
custom of carrying the corpse as it were out of the 

world 



* Praeterea coilvocabantur et invitabantur necdum Sacerdotes et 
Religiosi, sed et EgeniPauperes. Had our famous Poet, Mr Pope^ 
an eye to this in ordering, by Will, poor men to support his pall ? 

f Mr Strutt in his English iEra tells us, that Sir Robert Knolles 
(in the 8th year of Henry IV.) died at his manor in Norfolk, and 
his dead body Avas brought in a litter to London with great pomp 
and much torch light, and it was buried in the White Friars 
Church — " where was done for him a solemne obsequie, with a 
** great feast and lijberall dole to the pooreJ*"* This custom of 
giving a funeral feast to the chief mourners, was universally practis- 
ed all over the kingdom, as well as grjing alms to the poor, in pro- 
portion to the quality and finances of the deceased. 

Vol. II. p. 109. 

:|: It should seem to have been from such figurative expression*: 
as these in the first Christian writers, lit-e rally understood, that the 
Romanists have derived their superstitious doctrine of praying for 
the dead. 

II Ceterum priusquam corpus humo injecta contegatur, defunctus 
oratione funebri laudabatur. Durant, p. 236. 

^ M^AAa* ^8 T< /t4£Tct T«wT» TfSKijTflts K-cthti^ \ ivfit m uiXTrxvcriv ot-n}.- 
^vi .hot 'i}^w a-^9i rov 5<x«c-t>j». 

Homilia xxxii. in Matthei cap. non. 



Chapter III. 37 

world, with its feet forward, is not inconsonant 
to reason, " as contrary to the native posture of 
" man, and his production first into it.'* 

It may be added to Mr Bourne's observations 
on ever-greens used at funerals *, that the planting 
of yew-trees in church-yards seems to derive its 
origin from ancient funeral rites ; in which, (the 
doctor conjectures) from its perpetual verdure ^ it 
was used as an emblem of the resurrection. — He 
observes farther, that the Christian custom of 
decking the coffin with hay^ is a most elegant em- 
blem. It is said that this tree, w^hen seemingly 
dead, will revive from the root, and its dry leaves 
resume their wonted verdure. 

The custom of laying flat t staiies in our church- 
es and church-yards, over the graves of better 
sort of persons, on which are inscribed epitaphs 
containing the name, age, character, &c. has 
been transmitted from very ancient times, as ap- 
pears from Cicero and others. I cannot better 
close these additional remarks on the obsolete cus- 
tom of carrying ever-greens at funerals, than with 
a description of it in the words of the elegant Mr 
Gay in his Pastoral Dirge.-^He paints the rustic, 

D 3 vulgar 

* Dr Trusler in his Chronology tells us, that in the year 1482, 
yew-trees were encouraged in church-yards (as being fenced from 
cattle) for the making of bows. Hence their frequency in church- 
yards. — This seems to me the observation of one totally ignorant 
of ecclesiastical antiquities. Are not all plantation grounds fenced 
from cattle ? And whence is it that there is usually but one yew 
tree in each church -yard ? How much more probable the conjec- 
ture of the learned author of the Vulgar Errors ! 

f Cicero de legibus. 

Lapidea Mensa terra operitur humato Corpore hominis qui aliquo 
sit numero, quae contineat laudem et nomen mortui incisum. Mos 
ritinetur. Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 86. 



38 Observations^ Sec. 

vulgar ceremonies with great truth , though his 
stile is intended for that of affected simplicity. 

To shew their love, the neighbours far and near, 
Follow'd with wistful look the damsel's bier : 
Sprigg'd rosemary the lads and lasses bore. 
While dismally the pardon walk'd before. * 

The reader, conversant in classical learning, 
will call to mind here the beautiful thought in 
the Idyllium on Bion, by Moschus t — though the 
fine spirit in it will perhaps evaporate, when we 
apply it to the Christian doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion : The antithesis will be destroyed. 

CHAP. 

* I haye almost thought it unnecessary to give any other proofs 
than Mr Bourne has left us, of the antiquity of singing psalms be- 
fore the corpse. The learned reader may not think the subsequent 
quotation unworthy his »perusal. " Cantilena feralis per Anti- 
** phones in pompa funebri et Fano debacchata hinc est. Inter 
** Graecos demortui cadavere deposito in inferiori domus aula ad 
*' portam, et peractis caeteris ceremoniis, Cantores funerales acce- 
*' dunt et .^g^vey canunt, quibus per intervalla respondebant domes- 
** ticae servae, cum assistentium corona, neque solum domi, sed us- 
** que ad sepulchrum praecedebant feretrum ita canentes.'''' 

Guichard. Lib. II. cap. 2. Funer. apud Moresini, &c. p. 32. 

•j- A< A<, Tfic/ fAethd-^xi jttsv, 67rtf» Ketree, kZttov oXuvrecif 
' H rcc 'f^Xa^a. o-eAoat, ra, r kvB'AXi^ 4Ao» tfyjj^oy, 

AMMES d ot ftiyeixoi xxi Ket^npoi ^ a-o^ai «e»5p£j, 

^'Evoo^ii Iv fceiXx fcecK^h iri^utia, vyty^irov uttioi, 

Alas I the meanest flowers which gardens yield, 
The vilest weeds that flourish in the field. 
Which dead in wintry sepulchres appear. 
Revive in spring, and bloom another year : 
But we, the great, the brave, the leam'd, the wise, 
Soon as the hand of death has clos'd our eyes, 
In tombs forgotten lie, no suns restore, 
We sleep, for ever sleep, to wake no more. 

Favvkes. 



The Antiquities^ ^c, 39 

CHAR IV. 

Of Garlands in Country Churches : Ofstraw^ 
ing Flowers on the Grave : the Antiquity 
of these Customs, the Innocency of them. 

IN some country churches it is customary to 
hang a garland of flowers over the seats of 
deceased virgins, as a token of esteem and love, 
and an emblem of their reward in the heaven- 
ly church. 

This custom perhaps may be looked upon, as 
sprung from that ancient custom of the hea- 
thens, of crowning their corpse with garlands 
in token of victory. But Mr Bingham tells 
us, That we find not this custom used by the 
ancients in Xh^'iv funeral rites. For as he ob- 
serves, the heathen in Minutius makes it one 
topic of accusation against them, * That they 
did not crown their sepulchres. 

But if they did not crown them after the 
manner of the heathens, they had a custom 
of using crowns of flowers, if we may believe 
Cassalion, who tells us, t It was a custom of 
the ancient Christians to place crowns of flow- 

D 4 ers. 



* Min. P. 35. Coronas etiam sepulchris denegatls. Bing, VoL 
iO. P. 68. 

f Fuit quoque mos ad capita virginum apponendi florum coronas, 
&c. Cass, de Vet. Sacr, Christ, P. 334. 



40 The Antiquities^ ^c, 

ers, at the heads of deceased virgins ; for which 
he quotes Damqscen, Gregory^ Nyssen^ St Je- 
rom and St Austin. And this hath probably 
been the original of this custom among the 
vulgar. 

That other custom oi strawing flowers upon 
the graves of their departed friends, is also de- 
rived from a custom of the ancient church. For 
it was usual in those times for the common sort 
of people, to straw the graves of their friends 
with various flowers. Of this there are two no- 
table instances taken notice of by Cassation 
and several other ritualists. The one is that 
of St Ambrose^ in his funeral oration on the 
death of Valentinian^ * / witl not sprinkle his 
grave with flowers^ but pour on his spirit the 
odour of CHRIST. Let others scatter bas- 
kets oj flowers ; CHRIST is our lily^ and 
with this will I consecrate his relicts. 

The other is that of St Jerom in his epistle 
to Paminachius upon the death of his wife. 
*j- Whilst other husbands strawed violets, and 

roses, 

^ Nee ego floribus tumulum ejus aspeiagam, sed spiritum ejus 
Christi odore perfundam j spargant alii plenis lilia calathis : Nobis 
lilium est Christus : Hoc reliquias ejus sacrabo. Ambros, Oral, 
Funebri. de obitu Valentin. 

•\- Caeteri mariti super tumulos conjugum spargunt violas, rosas, 
lilia, floresque purpureos, & dolorem pectoris his officiis consolantur : 
Pammachius noster sanctam favillam ossaque veneranda eleemosynse 
balsamis rigat. Hieron. Epist. ad Pammachium de obitu Uxoris. 



Observations, SfC. 41 

roses, and lilies, and purple flowers, upon the 
graves of their wives, and comforted them- 
selves with such like offices, Pammachius be- 
dewed her ashes and venerable bones with the 
balsam of alms. 

Npw these instances, though they justly 
commend these other actions, and wisely pre- 
fer them to the ceremonies of adorning graves 
with flowers, yet they no way decry these an^ 
cient customs. These lower marks of esteem 
and hqnour, which the vulgar paid to the re- 
mains of their friends, were in themselves harm- 
less and innocent, and had no censure ; and as 
they were sq, so should the present customs be 
without any, being full as harmless and inno- 
cent as the other. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER IV. 

I Have seen many of the garlands our author 
here speaks of, in village churches in the 
South of England : The custom seems to be en- 
tirely laid aside in the north *. It is undoubtedly 

of 



* Not entirely : — I saw lately, in the churches of Wolsingham 
and Stanhope^ in the county of Durham^ specimens of these garlands^ 
The form of a woman's glove, cut in white paper, hangs in each of 
them. 



42 Observations on 

of very high antiquity. — In the earlier ages of the 
church, virginity^ (out of deference, it should 
seem, to the virgin mother) was honoured with al- 
most divine adoration. There is little doubt but 
that nunneries and this garland claim one common 
origin. 

Durant * tells us, the ancient Christians, after 
the funeral, used to ^c2itttrJlowers on the tomb. — 
There is a great deal of learning in Moresin t a- 
bove cited, on this subject. — It appears from 
Pliny's Natural History, from Cicero in his Ora- 
tion from Lucius Plancius, and from Virgil's 
sixth ^neid, that this was a funeral rite among 
the heathens t. They used also to scatter them 
on the unburied corpse. — Gay describes the strew- 
ing on the grave, 

*' Upon her grave the rosemary they threw, 
" The daisy, butter-flow'r, and endive blue ||." 

Thus 



* Condito et curato funere solebant nonnulli antiquitus tumu- 
lum floribus adspergere. Durant. p. 237. 

j- Sepulchra funeralibus, expletis quandoque florihus^ odoramen- 
tisque fuisse sparsa legimus. Idemque mos cum in plerisque re- 
gionibus Italiae, tum maxime in subjectis Appennino collibus, Ro- 
mandiolae alicubi aetate nostra servatur. Adhibita sunt post fune- 
ralia in Templis Ornamenta^ Clypeiy Coronce, et hujusmodi Donaria, 
quod: nostra quoque JEXas in nobilibus et honoratis viris servat. 

Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 156. 

Hence our custom of hanging up over the tombs of Knights, &c. 
banners, spurs, and other Insignia of their Order. 

X Flores et serta, educto cadavere certatim injiciebant Athenien- 
5es. Guichard, lib. 2. cap. 3. Funeral. — Retinent Papani morem. 
Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 62. 

11 Thus also our Shakespeare : 

Our bridal ^oi^VvT serve for a buried coarse. 

Rom. and Juliet. 



Chapter IV. 43 

Thus also the Garland : 

*• To her sweet mem'ry flow'ry garlands strung, 
** On her now empty seat aloft were hung." 

The custom too, still used in the south of Eng^ 
land, of fencing the grave with osiers, &c. is ad- 
ded : The poet glances in the two last lines at 
clerical Economy : 

" With wicker rods we fenc'd her tomb around, 

" To ward from man and beast the hallow'd ground j 

** Lest her new grave the parson's cattle raze, 

" For both his horse and cow the church-yard graze *." 

Gay^s Dirge, 

* Mr Strutt cites the bishop of London in his additions to Cam- 
den, telling us, that of old it was usual to adorn the graves of the de- 
ceased with roses and other flowers (but more especially those of lov- 
ers, round whose tombs they often planted rose trees :) Some traces 
(he observes) of this ancient custom are yet remaining in the church- 
yard of Oakley, in Surry, which is full of rose trees, planted round 
the graves. 

Anglo Saxon iEra, Vol. I. p. 69/ 

Mr Pennant, in his Tour in Scotland, remarks a singular custom 
in many parts of North Britain, of painting on the doors and win- 
dow-shutters, white tadpole-like figures, on a black ground ; design- 
ed to express the tears of the country for the loss of any person of 
distinction. 

Nothing seems to be wanting to render this mode of expressing 
sorrow completely ridiculous, but the subjoining of a N. B. " These 
are tears." 



CHAP. 



44 The Antiquities^ of 

C H A P. V. 

Of Bowing towards the altar at the frst com-^ 
ing into the church ; a custom generally ob- 
served by ignorant people ; its meaning and 
antiquity, 

WE may observe the generality of old 
people among the commonalty, as they 
enter into the church, to turn their faces to- 
wards the altar, and bow or kneel that way. 
This, no doubt, is the remains of that ancient 
custom of the church, of worshipping toward 
the east : For in the ancient church they wor- 
shipped that way upon several accounts. Firsts 
That by so worshipping, they might lift up their 
minds to God, who is called the Light and the 
Creator of light. And therefore St Austin 
says, * When we pray standing, we turn our 
face to the east, from whence the day springs, 
that we might be reminded of turning to a 
more excellent nature, namely. The Lord. 
Secondly^ That for as much as man was driven 
out of paradise^ which is towards the east, he 
ought to look that way, which is an emblem of 
his desire to return thither. St Damascen 

therefore 

* Cum ad orationem stamus, ad orientem covertlmur, unde cae- 
lum surgit, &c. Ut admoneatur animus ad naturam excellentio- 
rem se convertere, id est, ad Dominum. Aug, de Serm, DominL 
in Mont, Lib, 2. Cap, 5. 



The Common People. 45 

therefore tells us, That * because the Scripture 
says, that God planted Paradise in Eden, to- 
wards the east, where he placed the man which 
he had formed, whom he punished with banish- 
ment upon his transgression, and made him 
dwell over against Paradise, in the western 
part ; we therefore pray, (says he) being in 
quest of our ancient country ; and as it were 
panting after it, do worship God that way. 
Thirdly, It was used when any were baptized. 
They first turned their faces to the west, and 
so renounced the devil ; and then to the east, 
and made their covenant with Christ. Last^ 
ly. They prayed that way, believing that our 
Saviour would come to judgment from that 
quarter of the heavens. For as the lightning 
Cometh out of the east, and shineth unto the 
west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be ; 
and he is to come in like manner as he ascend- 
ed. And that he ascended up eastward from 
mount Olivet, St Damascen -f* assures us. For 
(says he) when he ascended into heaven, he 
was taken up eastward, and his disciples wor- 
shipped him that way. And therefore chiefly 
it was, that in the ancient church they prayed 
with their faces to the east ; and that many 
of our own church, at this day, turn their faces 

to 

* St Damasc, Lib, 4. C. 13. Orthod, Fid, f Ibid, 



46 The Antiquities of 

to that quarter of the world, at the repetition 
of the creed. 

What may more confirm this, and speak it to 
have been the univ^ersal opinion of the church, 
is the ancient custom of burying the corpse 
with the feet to the east, and the head to the 
west ; which custom is continued to this day in 
the whole church of Ens^land : This was ob- 
served for the same reason. That, at the com- 
ing of Cum ST to judgment from the oriental 
part of heaven, our bodies might be found in a 
praying posture, with their faces towards the 
east. 

Our learned countryman Gregory tells us, 
" That the holy men of Jerusalem hold a tra- 
" dition generally received from their ancients, 
" that ourSAViouii himself was buried with 
" his face and feet tov/ards the east/' It is 
affirmed by the geographers of the holy Land. 
And Bede says^ * That as the holy women en- 
tered at the eastern part into the round-house, 
which is hewn out in the rock, they saw the 
angel sitting at the south part of the place, 
where the body of JESUS had lain, that is, at 

his 

* Introeuntes ab orlente in domum illam rotundam quae in petra 
excisa est, viderunt angelum scdentem ad meridianam partem loci 
illius, ubi positum fuerat corpus Jesu j hoc enim erat in dextris, 
quod nimirum, corpus, quod supinum jacens caput habebat ad occa- 
sum, dexteram nccesse est habere ad austrum. Bed. in Die, Sanct. 
Paschce, Tom, 7. 



The Common People. 4f 

his right hand ; for undoubtedly his body hav- 
ing his face upwards and its head to the west, 
must have its right hand to the south. Cas- 
salion says, * The faithful of old were so ob- 
serving of this ceremony of looking towards 
the east, that they not only strictly observed 
it in their prayers when living ; but even wheri 
they were dead, their bodies were placed with 
their faces upwards in the sepulchre, looking 
towards the east. 

The learned Dr Comber^ in his discourse of 
the solemn interment, hath these words upon 
this subject, " We may note the posture and 
" position of the corpse, which among the Chris- 
" tians hath always been to turn the feet to 
" the east, with the head to the west ; that so 
" they may be ready to meet the Lord, v^^hom 
*' the ancients did believe should appear in the 
"• oriental part of heaven. Durand, Rat, Lib. 
" 7. Cap. 33. Or as our ingenious Mr Gre- 
" S^^y believes. That they might be in the 
" posture of prayer, with their faces to the east, 
" as soon as they were raised. There are some 
" ancient authors tells us. That the old inhabi- 
" tants of Attica buried thus before the days 

" of 

* Adeo tenaces fuere prisci illi fideles in hoc ritu respiciendi in 
orlentem, ut non solum Ipsi viventes, hoc in eorum precibus exactc 
servarent verum etiam mortui eorum corpora supina in sepulcliris 
£acie orientem respiccrent. Cass, de Vet. Kit. Christ, P. 30. 



48 The Antiquities of 

" of Solon, who, as they report, convinced thel 
''• Athenians, that the island of Salamis did of 
" right belong to them, by shewing them dead 
" bodies looking that way, and sepulchres turn- 
" ed towards the east, as they used to bury. 
" Diog. Laert. Vit. Solon, &c. And the scho- 
" liast upon Thucidides says. It was the man- 
" ner of all the Greeks to bury their dead thus : 
" Though a learned modern writer supposes 
" these authors mistaken, and cites Plutarch 
" and Elian to prove, that the Athenians turn- 
" ed their dead towards the west. However 
" it is certain, that all nations had one certain 
" way of placing the corpse, from which they 
" would not vary ; and \ve Christians have so 
" great antiquity for our custom, that we 
" ought not out of singularity to alter it. 

No doubt but this learned man had great 
reason for this conclusion, as well knowing that 
this ancient rite was struck at by the whole 
herd of sectaries, as a silly fancy and an idle 
dream : Who never would observe it, were it 
not that they are sometimes obliged ; but 
would with those who are not obliged, act the 
very reverse, and bury north and south. I 
wish there were no powerfuUer enemies to it, 
than them now a days ; but, as a mans ene- 
mies are too often those of his own household ; 
so, it is to be lamented, that some who pre- 
tend 



The Cofhmon People. 49 

tend to be o^* our own church, are upon all oc- 
casions secret advocates against this ceremony. 
When therefore there is such opposition with- 
out, and such treachery within, it is high time 
to be on the guard against our enemies ; least 
a ceremony so venerable for its antiquity, and 
so useful in its observation, be laid aside : Was 
it but for this one thing, that it speaks the hope 
of the whole Christian church, since the earhest 
times of Christianity, about the resurriection of 
the same body. It is too triie, that there are 
some at this time of the day, as well as were iii 
the days of the apostle, who think it a thing in-- 
credible that GOD should raise the dead; 
some really disbelieving the resurrection of any 
body^ and others that of the same body. But 
as long as this ceremony is in being, it will al- 
ways be a ready proof, that the whole Chris- 
tian church did not only believe the resurrec- 
tion of the body, but of that very body which 
was laid down in the grave. For they observ- 
ed it, that they might be ready with their faces 
to meet their Saviour at his coming to judg- 
ment, which certainly implies that they believ- 
ed that very body should rise again. 

E (3B- 



5(3 Ohservatiojis en 

OBSERVATIONS 



O N 

CHAPTER V. 

WE may add to Mr Bourne's remarks, that 
the custom is still retained in many 
churches, of turning to the altar while the con- 
gi'egation are repeating the creed. — The forms 
pre both derived to us from the same origin. We 
need not hesitate to pronounce as well the hoxv- 
ings * as the turnings about to the east, or altar, 
to be superstitious. — They are alike vestiges of 
the ancient popish cei^emonial law. 

One who has left a severe satire on the retain- 
ers of those forms and ceremonies that lean to- 
wards Popish superstition, tells us t, ^' If I w^ere 
" a Papist or Anthrapo-morphite^ w^ho believes that 
" God is enthroned in the east, like a grave old 
*' king, I profess I would bow and cringe as well 
" as any Limber-ham of them all, and pay my 
" adoration to that point of the compass (the 

east) : 

* Aulam regiara, id est. Eccleslam ingredientes a^ altare tri' 
clinamus^ quod quasi Regem milites adoramus j etemi enim Regis 
militcs sumus. Durandi Rational, p. 226. 

The learned Mr Mede tells as, that what reverential guise, ce- 
remony, or worship they used at their ingress into churches, in the 
ages next to the apostles, (and some he believes they did) is wholly 
buried in silence and oblivion. The Jews used to boiv themselves 
towards the viercy-seat ; — the Christians after them, in the Greek 
and Oriental churches, have, time out of mind, and without any 
known beginning, used to bow in like manner j — they do it at this 
day. See Elngham's Antiquities. 

f Hickeringiirs Ceremony Monger, p. 15. 



Chapter V. 51 

«^ men believe that the Holy One who inhabits 
'« eternity, is also omnipresent, why do not they 
" make correspondent ceremonies of adoration 
" to every point of the compass ?" 

Concession must be made by every advocate 
for Ttianly and rational worship, that there is no- 
thing more in the east, than in the belfry at the 
west endj or in the body of the church. We won- 
der therefore how ever this custom was retained 
by Protestants. The cringes and bowings of the 
Roman Catholics to the altar, is in adoration of 
the corporeal * presence, their wafer-god, who is by 
their fancies, seated there and enthroned. — In the 
homilies of our church, this is frequently stiled 
idolatry, and the act of a fool. — A regard for 
impartiality obliges me to own, that I have ob^ 
served this practice in college chapels at Oxford. 
— I hope it is altogether worn out in every other 
place in the kingdom ; and for the credit of that 
truly respectable seminary of learning and reli- 
gious truth, that it will not be retained there by 
the rising generation ! 

E2 The 

* I find in a curious collection of godly ballads in the Scotch 
language, Edinburgh, 1621. the following passage, which has been 
intended, no doubt, as an argument against transubstantiation : 
" Gif God be transubstantiall, 
" In breid with hoc est Corpus meum ; 
" Why are ye sa utinaturall 
" To take him in your teeth and sia him, Sic.'' 
The Rev. Mr Joseph Warton, in his Dying Indian, puts into his 
hero's charge a similar thought : 

' " Tell her I ne'er have worshipped 

" With those that eat their God^ 

Dodsley's Collection, Vol. IV. 

Thug hath superstition made the most awful mysteries of our 
faith the subjects of ridicule I 



i2 Ohervations on 



The learned Moresin * tells us, that altars, in 
papal Rome, were placed towards the east in imi- 
tation of the ancient and heathen Rome. — Thus 
Virgil's nth .^neid : 

lUi ad surgentem conversi lumina sokm 
Dant fi'uges manibus salsas. 

As to the position in the grave, " though we 
" decline (says Dr Browne, in his Urne-burial) 
^" the religious consideration, yet in ccemeteral 
" and narrower burying places, to avoid confu- 
" sion and cross position, a certain posture were 
" to be admitted. — The Persians lay north and 
" south ;. — the Megarians and Phoenicians placed 
'' their heads to the east; — ^the Athenians, some 
" think, towards the west, which Christians 
" still. retain; — and Bede will have it to be the 
" posture of our Saviour." — (This judicious ob- 
server proceeds) " That Christians buried their 
" dead on their backs, or in a supine position, 
" seem.s agreeable to profound sleep, and the 
" common posture of dying ; contrary also to the 
" most natural way of birth ; not unlike our pen- 

" dulous 

* Oriefitem m solem convertitur, qui Deos salutat, aut orat apud 
nos, et Api.ll. ait, 2. Metam. tunc in orientem obversus vel incre- 
menta solis augusti tacitus imprecatus, &c. Polyd. lib. 5. cap. 9. 
Invent. Orientetn respicit precaturus et Imagines oriens spectant, 
ut ingredientes preces eoversum ferant ad ritum Persarum, qui 
solem orientem vencrati sunt. Plutarch, in Nuraa. Deus interdicit 
Judseis oriente^ prohibet Imagines. Exod. 20. Levit. 26, &.c. Cael. 
autem lib. 7. cap. 2. ant. lect. dicit, jam illud veteris fuit su- 
pcrstitionis, quod in Asclepio Mercurius scribit, Deum adorante*, 
si medius aiFulserit Dies in aiistrum converti : si vero dies sit occi- 
duus, in occasum : Si se tunc prira^'m prom.at Sol, exortiva est 
spectanda. — ^ui precabantur ad orientem conversi, erecto vultu, 
manibus passis, expaiisis et in coelum sublatis ac protensis orabant. 
Virgil 8 i^neid, Ovid, Ub. 4. Fast. &:c. &:c. 

Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. & Increm. p. IIT- 



( 



Chapter V. 53 

*' dulous posture in ^ the doubtful state of the 
" womb. — Diogenes (he adds) was singular, who 
" preferred a prone situation in the grave ; and 
" some Christians like neither, (Russians, &c.) 
" who decline the figure of rest, and make choice 
" of an ^rec^ posture." 

There is a passage in the grave-diggers' scene 
in Hamlet, 

" Make her grave straight,'' 
which Dr Johnson has thus explained. " Make 
*' her grave from east to west^ in a direct line 
*' parallel to the church ; not from north to souths 
*•' athwart the regular line. This I think is 
^' meant." Johnson in loco. 

Moresin * tells us, that in Popish burying 
grounds, those who were reputed good Christians 
lay towards the south and east t, others who had 
suffered capital punishment, laid violent hands on 
themselves^ or the like, were buried towards the 
north ; a custom that had formerly been of fre- 
quent use in Scotland. — One of the grave-diggers 
supposes Ophelia to have droxiiied herself. This 
quotation therefore seems to confirm the learned 
annotator's explication. 

E3 CHAP. 

* — In Coemeteriis pontificiis, boni, quos putant, ad austrum et 
Oriens, reliqui, qui aut supplicio affecti, aut sibi mm fccissent, et 
id genus ad Septentrionem sepeiiantur, ut frequens olim Scotis tuit 
Mos. Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. & Increm. p. 157. 

If rain fell during the funeral precession, it was T^lgarly con- 
sidered as a presage of the happiness of the deceased in the oilier 
world: — "Happy (says the old proverb) is the bride the bun 
shines on, and the corpse the rain rains on^'"* 

f There is either a mistake in the original, or south must be un- 
derstood as meaning south of the church : as also noi'th, north of the 
same. — Our criminals, suicides, (lunatics,) and unbaptized infants 
are still buried on the north side j or, as it is vulgarly called here, 
aback of the church, and that tco not in a direction parallel to it^ 
but athwart the regular line. 



54 The Antiquities of 



CHAP. VI. 

Of the tiyne of Cock-crow ; Whether evil Spi- 
rits zoander about in the time of night ; 
and whether they fly away at the time of 
Cock-crow, Reflections upon this, encour- 
aging us to have faith and trust in God. 

TT is a received tradition among the vulgar, 
-I- That at the time of cock-crowing, the mid- 
night spirits forsake these lower regions, and 
go to / their proper places. They wander, 
say they, about the world, from the dead hour 
of night, when all things are buried in sleep 
and darkness, till the time of cock-crowing, 
and then they depart. Hence it is, that in 
country-places, where the way of Ufe requires 
more early labour, they always go chearfully 
to work at that time ; whereas if they are call- 
ed abroad sooner, they are apt to imagine, eve- 
ry thing they see or hear, to be a wandering 
ghost. Shakespear hath given us an excellent 
account of this vulgar notion, in his tragedy of 
Hamlet, 

Ber. It was about to speak, wKen the cock crew. 

Hor, And then it started like a guilty thing 
Upon a dreadful summons. I have heard, 
The cock that is the trumpet to the day, 
Doth with his lofty and shrill sounding throat 
Awake the God of day : and at his warning 
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 

The 



The Common People. 55 

The extravagant and erring spirit hyes 
To its confine ; and of the truth herein^ 
This present object made probation. 
Mar, It faded at the crowing of the cock. 

Some say that e'er against that season comes, 
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long. 
And then, they say, No spirit doth walk abroad, 
The nights are wholesome, then no planet strikes, 
No fairy takes, no witch hath power to harm, 
So gracious and so hallowed is that time. 

Now to shew what truth there is in this 
vulgar opinion, I shall consider, Firsts What 
truth there is in the roaming of spirits in the 
night. And, Secondly^ Whether they are o- 
bliged to go away at cock-crow. 

I believe none who assent to the truth of 
divine revelation, deny that there ^re good 
and evil angels attending upon men ; the one 
to guard and protect them, and the other to 
harm and work their ruin ; that the one are 
those * ministering spirits^ which are sent out 
minister to the heirs of salvation; the other 
the roaring lion, and his instruments t, who 
wander to and fro in the earth ; these X un-- 
clean spirits who wander through dry places^ 
seeking rest and finding none. 

Nor, I believe, will it be questioned, that 
there have been apparitions of good and evil 
.spirits, and that many, with our Saviour's 

E 4 Dis- 

* Heb. i. 14. f Job ii. 2. % Matth. xii, 43^ 



56 The Antiquities of 

disciples, have been affrighted and cried out^ 
not only with supposing they had seen, but 
really with seeing ^ spirit. Of this the testi- 
mony of all ages, and Scripture itself are a suf- 
ficient demonstration. 

What then could these have ordinarily been, 
but the appearances of some of those angels 
of light, or darkness ? For I am far from 
thinking that either the ghosts of the damned 
or the happy, either the soul of a Dives or a 
Lazarus^ returns here; any more. For as St 
Athanasius observes, * Thes^ visions and 
shades of the saints, which appear in the tem- 
ples and at the tombs, are not the souls of the 
saints themselves, but the good angels appear- 
ing in their shapes. Not that God could not 
remand the ghost of Samuel, and order it a- 
gain to visit the earth, as he made Moses and 
Elias to appear at our Saviour's transfigura- 
tion ; but that a thing of this nature w^as very 
uncommon, and seldom happened. 

Taking it therefore for granted, that there 
have been apparitions of angels, I believe it 
will also be owned, that these apparitions have 
frequently happened in the night. And truly, 
'was there no direct proof of this, yet the no- 
tion of their appearing in the night, being as 
it were linked and chained to our idea of an 

, * Hai en tois paois, 6'r. Aihan, Tcm. 2. P. 34. 



The Common 'People. 57 

apparition, would almost persuade us, that 
the night is the most proper time for such ap- 
pearances. Whether it is, that the fables of 
nurses, * as an ingenious author imagines, 
" have so associated the idea of spirit to 
*' the night, that the one never appears with- 
" out the other ;" or whether there is some- 
thing in the presence of night, some awfulness 
and horror, which naturally dispose the mind 
of man to these reflections. I am indeed very 
inchnable to believe, that these legendary sto- 
ries of nurses and old women, are the occasion 
of much greater fears, than people without 
them, would generally have of these things ; 
but I cannot help thinking, that the presence 
of night, would naturally lead a man to some 
reflectiori of spirits, without any such "cause as 
that learned author mentions. There are some 
particular times, which will naturally raise 
some particular thoughts : Thus on a bright 
sunny day, we are naturally disposed to mirth 
and gaiety ; when the day over-casts, or the 
weather is hazy, we then turn indolent and 
dull, and soothe ourselves in melancholy ; if it 
thunder and lighten, we think of the day of 
judgment and sudden death : And thus also the 
night, as it inclines us to grave and serious 

thoughts, 

^ Lecke on Human Understanding. 



58 The Antiquities of 

thoughts, raises in us horror and dismay, and 
makes us afraid even when our judgment tells 
us there is no fear ; so it may of itself be look- 
ed upon as a natural cause of such reflections. 

But however this be, we must necessarily 
own, that spirits have frequently appeared in 
the night, or we must give the lie to the tra- 
ditions of all ages, to historians, profane and 
sacred, and the wisest and best in the genera- 
tions of men. 

In the heathen world there are many in- 
stances, of which I shall only mention this one 
out of Plutarch * : " One night, before Brutus 
" passed out of Asia^ he was very late all alone 
" in his tent, with a dim light burning by him, 
" all the rest of the army being hushed and 
" silent ; and musing with himself, and very 
" thoughtful, as he turned his eye to the door, 
^' he saw a strange and terrible appearance, of 
" a prodigious and frightful body coming to- 
" wards him without speaking. Brutus bold- 
" ly asked him. What art thou ? Man or God ? 
" Or upon what business dost thou come to 
*' us ? The spirit answered, I am thy Evil Ge- 
" nius^ thou shalt see me at Philippi ; to which 
" Brutus^ not at all disturbed, replied. Then I 
^* will see thee there/^ 

In 

* In Vlt. Mar. Brut, Trans. Duke. 



The Common People. 59 

In the sacred writings we have Job * terri- 
Jied with visions of the night, when deep sleep 
falleth upon men, fear came upon him and 
trembling, which made all his bones to shake ; 
then a spirit passed by before his face, and 
the hair of his flesh stood up. In the night 
•f* Jacob wrestled with the angel ; in the night 
an angel delivered J Peter out of prison, &c. 

But though it be true from Scripture, that 
there have been nightly apparitions, yet these 
are chiefly of good angels ; whereas this opi- 
nion principally means, the appearances of 
evil spirits. It must be owned indeed, that 
the appearances of evil spirits, if literally, are 
yet but very seldom mentioned in the night 
in Scripture ; but however, that they wander 
and appear at night, is very deducible from, if 
not literally mentioned in it. Theirs is the 
land of darkness, and the shadow of death ; 
they are reserved under chains of darkness to 
the judgment of the great day ; and we know 
that every one that doth evil naturally hateth 
the light ; They therefore love darkness, ra- 
ther than light, because their deeds are evil. 
The night therefore, in a more especial man- 
ner, seems to be their hour, and the power of 
darkness. 

This was the opinion of the Jews, as may 
be learned from the fear of the apostles, when 

they 

* Job xxiii. 15. f Gen. xxxii. J Acts ^ii. 



00 The Antiquities of 

they saw our Saviour about the fourth watch 
of the night, coming to them upon the waters : 
* they were affrighted^ and cryed out^ auppos- 
ing they had seen a spirit. Doctor Whitby 
upon this place, says, " That the Jews had 
" then an opinion of hurtful spirits walking in 
" the night, is evident from the Seventy, who 
" rendered,"' from the pestilence walking in 
darkness ; *f From the fear of the devils that 
walk in the night. 

And that this was also the opinion of the 
ancient Christians, is evident, not only from 
their dividing the night into four watches, the 
evening, midnight, cock-crowing, and the morn- 
ing ; which were the military divisions of the 
night, and which they X observed to guard 
their souls from the silent incursions of evil 
spirits, as the others did those of the enemy : 
but also from their many relations of such ap- 
pearances. Cassian in giving an account of 
the watchmg of the ancient monks, and their 
being assaulted with midnight spirits, tells us. 
That at the beginning of the monkish hfe, § 

the 

* Matt. XIV. 25. 

f Apo pragmatos diaporeuomenou en skotei. 

X Si quidem & in Nocte Stationes, & Vigiliae Militares in qua- 
ti^or partes divisae ternis horarum spatiis secemuntur. Isidore^ Lib, 
1. de Eccle. Offici. Cap. 19. 

§ Tanta namq j erat eorum feritas, ut vix pauci Tolerare 

kabitationem solitudinis possent. Ita eorum atrocitas grassaba- 



The Common People. 6l 

the rage of the midnight spirits was so great, 
that but few, and these too men of age and un^ 
shaken resolution, were able to endure the life 
in the desart. For such was their fierceness, 
that where eight or ten had been together in a 
monastery, they would have made frequent and 
visible incursions : Insomuch, that they never 
all slept at the same time, but took it by 
turns ; some watching the rest, and exercising 
themselves in singing psalms, in praying and 
reading. And St At/ianasius, in his life of A?i- 
thony the hermit, tells, Of many conflicts that 
good man had in the night with the powers of 
darkness, whilst they endeavoured to batter 
him from the strong holds of his faith. And 
what can our church chiefly mean in the coU 
lect for aid against perils; but that God 
would send us protection from all the spirits of 
darkness, these midnight wanderers of the 
world : And for this reason, every good man, 
when he lies down to sleep at night, desires the 
great Keeper of Israel, who never slumber eth 
nor sleepeth^ to send his holy angels to pitch 
their tents round about him, and banish from 
him the spirits of the night. 

So 

tur, & frequentes ac visibiles sentiebantur aggressus, ut non aude- 
rent omnes parlter noctibus obdormire, sed vicissim allis degustanti- 
bus somnum, alii vigilias celebrantes, Psalmis & orationibus, ieu 
Lectionibus inhserebant. Cassian, Cell. 7. Cap. 23. 



62 The Antiquities of 

So far then this tradition is just and good, 
that there are at midnight spirits who wander 
about the world, going too and fro in the 
earthy seeking whom they may devour. Let 
us now in the next place enquire, what truth 
there is in the other part of it ; namely, That 
they always fly away at cock-crow. 

This opinion, whatever truth there may be 
in it, is certainly very ancient. We have it 
mentioned by the Christian poet Prudentius^ 
who flourished in the beginning of the fourth 
century, as a tradition of common belief : His 
words are these, 

Feimnt Vagantes Dcemones 
Lcetos Tenehris Noctiurriy 
Gallo canente exterritoSy 
Sparsim timere ^ cedere. 

Irwisa nam Vicinitas 
LuciSy salutis^ numinis. 
Rupto Tenehramm sttu^ 
Noctis Fugat satellites^ 

Hoc esse signum prcescii 
Norunt repromissce speiy 
Qua Nos soporis Libert 
Sperarmis adventum Dei, 

They say the wandering powers, that love 
The silent darkness of the nisrht. 
At cock-crowing give o'er to rove, 
And all in fear do take their flight 

The 



The Common People. 65 

The approaching salutary morn, 
The approach divine of hated day. 
Makes darkness to its place return, 
And drives the midnight ghosts away. 

They know that this an emblem is, 
Of what precedes our lasting bliss, 
That morn, when graves give up their dead, 
In certain hope to meet their God. 

Cassian also, who lived in the same century, 
giving an account of a multitude of devils, 
who had been abroad in the night, says, * 
That as soon as the morn approached, they 
all vanished and fled away. By this we see, 
that this was a current opinion at this time 
of day ; but what reason they had for it, ex- 
cept some relations of the disappearing of 
evil spirits at that hour, I never yet have 
met with : But there have been produced at 
that time of night, things of very memora- 
ble worth, which might perhaps raise the 
pious credulity of some men to imagine, that 
there was something more in it, than in other 
times. It was about the time of cock-crow- 
ing when our Saviour was born, and the an- 
gels sung the first Christmas- carol to the poor 
shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. Now 

it 

* Aurora itaque supervenietite, cum omnis haec ab oculls evan- 
isset Daemonum multitude. Cass* Coll, 8. C. 16. 



64f The Antiquities of 

It may be presumed, that as the Saviour of the 
world was then born, and the heavenly host 
had then descended to proclaim the news, that 
the angels of darkness would be terrified and 
confounded, and immediately fly away : And 
perhaps this consideration has partly been the 
foundation of this opmion ; for as this may 
easily be supposed, so perhaps it has been ima- 
gined, that the spirits of darkness, having al- 
ways in memory that fatal hour, are startled 
and frighted away as the cock proclaims it. 

It was also about this time when he rose 
from the dead. And when the great Sun of 
Righteousness was risen upon the world, no 
wonder that all the clouds of darkness and 
Wickedness were dispelled ; no wonder that 
the conquered powers of hell were not able to 
shew their heads : and this perhaps hath been 
another reason of their imagining that spirits 
go away at that time. 

A third reason is, that passage in the book 
of Genesis^ where Jacob wrestled with the 
angel for a blessing ; where the angel says 
unto him, * Let me go, for the day breaketh. 

But indeed this tradition seems more espe- 
cially to have risen from some particular cir- 
cumstances attending the time of cock-crow- 
ing ; and which, as Frudentius seems to say, 

above, 

* Gen. xxxii. 



The Common People, S5 

above, are an emblem of the approach of the 
day of the resurrection. For when we leave 
the world, we lie down in our graves, and rest 
from our labours; sleep and darkness lay hold 
upon us, and there w^e abide till the last day 
appear, when the voice of the arch-angel shall 
awake us, that we may meet the Lord of 
light and day. And when we leave the com- 
mon business and care of life, we lie down in 
our beds, as in a grave, buried as it were in 
sleep and darkness, till the cock crow, the wel- 
come messenger of the news of day. 

The circumstances therefore of the time of 
cock- crowing, being so natural a figure and re- 
presentation of the morning of the resurrec- 
tion ; the night so shadowing out the night of 
the grave ; the third watch being, as some sup- 
pose, the time our Saviour will come to judg- 
ment at ; the noise of the cock awakening 
sleepy man, and telling him, as it were, the 
night is far spent ^ the day is at hand ; repre- 
senting so naturally the voice of the arch-angel 
awakening the dead, and calling up the righte- 
ous to everlasting day ; so naturally does the 
time of cock- crowing shadow out these things, 
that probably some good well-meaning men 
have been brought to believe, that the very de- 
vils themselves, when the cock crew, and re- 
minded them of them, did fear and tremble, 
and shun the light. 

F Now 



66 The Afitiquities of 

Now, in answer to the first of these conjec- 
tures : 'Tis very likely the evil spirits did fly 
away in the morning of the nativity, and be- 
cause of our Saviour's birth and that company 
of the heavenly hasty might be afraid and re- 
tire into thick darkness ; yet it will not hence 
follow, that it always happens so at the time 
of cock- crowing : For if they did fly away that 
morning, the circumstances of our Saviour's 
birth, the heavenly glory of the angelic quire, 
their music and their presence were the occa- 
sion of it : And why only the bare remem- 
brance of what happened at that time, should 
always at the time of cock-crowing drive them 
away, rather than when they remember it at 
another, no reason seems to be given. 

As to the second conjecture, namely. That 
it was the time of our Saviour's rising from the 
dead, I answer in the same manner. That 
though it be allowed, that the evil spirits might 
have returned to the land of darkness, upon 
our Saviour's rising from the dead ; yet why it 
should occasion them always to do so at that 
time, no reason can be given. 

As to the third conjecture, it is easy to 
observe, That this was a good angel, where- 
as they that shun the light, are bad ones : 
This was the angel of the covenant, the crea- 
tt>r of light, and the Lord of the day : We 

mav 



The Common People. 67 

may therefore as well imagine, that it was not 
in his power, to get out of the arms of Jacobs 
without saying, Let me go ; as to suppose he 
was obliged to go, because he said the day 
hreaketh. The meaning of which words, " Ac- 
" cording to Willet^ is not that the angel was 
" gone to the blessed company of the angels, 
" to sing their morning hymn to GoD, as the 
" Hebrews imagine : For the angels, not only 
" in the morning, but at other times, are exer- 
** cised in praising God. But the angel thus 
** speaketh according to the custom of men, 
" having now taken the form and shape of a 
" man, as though he had haste to other busi- 
" ness, and leaving Jacob also to his affairs/' 

The last conjecture of the rise of this tradi- 
tion, seems to carry greater probability than 
the others : For as these things are a represen- 
tation of the circumstances of the morning of 
the resurrection, so they must sure enough 
bring that last day into remembrance; and 
they never can do so, but as surely they must 
create terror and confusion in all the devils 
and ghosts of the night : Whilst they assure 
them they shall never any more enjoy the 
realms of bliss, but be hurried into that * ever^ 
lasting Jire, prepared for the devil and his 

F 2 angels, 

* Matt. XXV. 41, 



63 The Antiquities oj 

angels. But that these things are the occa- 
sion of their flying away at the approach of 
day, is not to be supposed. On the contrary, 
the devil and his angels ramble over the world 
in day-light, and are mid-day devils, as well as 
midnight ones : For the devil is incessant in 
his temptations, and therefore he is abroad in 
the day as well as the night, though perhaps 
has seldom appeared but in darkness. Thus 
St Austin^ in one of his meditations, * We 
implore thee, O God ! that thou wouldest de- 
hver us from our daily enemy, who by his 
wiles and cunning is always watching us, day 
and night, sleeping and waking ; and both open- 
ly and in secret, shooting at us his poisoned 
arrows, that he may destroy our souls. 

And now, what, though this be true, as it 
most certainly seems to be so, that at the 
cheerful hour of cock-crowing, the wandering 
ghosts are not driven away, but still continue 
going to and fro ? What, though then their 
power be still the same, and their intentions as 
fully bent to do evil ? Consider but that God's 
care and providence govern the world, and there 
will be found as much safetv for us, in the 
midst of evil spirits, as if they absented at that 

time. 

* Et ideo Deus meus ad te clamamus, libera nos ab adversario 

nc^tro quotidiano, qui sive dormiamus, sive vigilemus, die ac 

nocte fraudibus & artibus, nunc palam nunc occulta sagittas ve- 
nenatas contra nos dirigens, ut interficiat animas nostras. Aug, Sol. 
Cap, 15 



The Common People. 69 

time. The Almighty power of God is the 
same then, as at other times ; nothing but that 
preserved us continually, and that will always 
be able to preserve us. However great may 
be the malice of devils ; however desirous of 
working our ruin ; though they watch all op- 
portunities, and are unwearied in tempting us ; 
yet the loving kindness of the LORD endur- 
eth for eve?', and his mercif is over all his 
works : He will not svffer our foot to be mov- 
ed : he that keepeth us zoill not sleep : We 
shall not be ajraid of the sun by day, nor the 
moon by night : For the pestilence that walk- 
eth in darkness, nor for the sickness that de- 
stroyeth in the noon-day. 

Are we then afraid of darkness and the pre- 
sence of night ? Let us remember the Creator 
of them, and have but faith in him, and we 
shall find our night turned into day. In his 
light shall we see light : We shall be as se- 
cure as if there was no darkness about us, as 
well knowing that that God which protects 
us, sees through the thickest mediums, and the 
darkest night : For with him the darkness is 
no darkness, but the night is as clear as the 
day : the darkness and light to him are both 
alike. Or are we afraid of that old serpent 
the devil, that nightly rambler of the world, 
who is a lover of night and darkness ? Let 
us trust in God, and no harm shall happen 

F3 to 



f The Antiquities^ ^c. 

to us. If we will but fear no evil, his rod 
find his staff shall comfort us, though we walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death : 
JFov GOD hath reserved the devil and his anr 
gels, in everlasting chains, under darkness, un- 
to the judgment of the great day. Though 
therefore he is permitted to wander the world, 
yet he is so chained up, that without God's 
particular order or permission, he is npt allow- 
ed to touch the sons of men ; and he is so re- 
served and kept in darkness, that it is not in 
his power even barely to appear and be visible 
to them, without the permission of God : So 
little reason hath every goo(} man to fear the 
spight and malice of all the devils in hell. 

When then the night pours out her terrors, 
covers all things with darkness, and strikes thee 
with horror ; Lift hut up thy eyes to the hills, 
from whence cometh thy help, and thou shalt 
clearly see, that our Lord GOD is a light and 
defence to thee. * For to those who are the 
children of the light, the day shineth in the 
night: They are never without light, whose 
hearts are illuminated; never without sun- shine, 
whose sun is Christ. In short then, if thou 
fear darkness, look up to Christ, and thou 

hast 



* — -— Quia filils lucis & innoctlbus dies est. Quando enlm 
sine lumine est, cui lumen In corde est ? Aut quando sol ei & dies 
non est, cui sol & dies Christus est ? Cyprian, de Oral, Dom, 



ObservaiionSi &c. 71 

liast eternal day ; if the angels of darkness 
look but up with the eye of faith, and thou 
shalt see the mountams full of chariots and 
horses of fire : Thou shalt see, as did the ser- 
vant of the prophet Elisha, That they who be 
with us^ are more than they who are against 
us. No matter then whether the spirits of the 
night go away, or only tremble at the time of 
cock-crowing ; For sure we are, that the an* 
gel of the LORD tarrieth round about thefn 
that fear him^ and delivereth them ; nay, That 
GOD himself will arise and scatter his ene* 
miesy and make them that hate him to fly be- 
fore him. And if God be for uSy who can be 
against us ? 



OBSERVATIONS 

O N 

CHAPTER VI. 

MR Bourne might have stiled this chapter, 
A Sermon on Spirit-walking ; and yet I can- 
not help thinking, that the nurse prevails over 
the priest in it. The good man, it must be allow- 
ed, has played the conjurer so far as to raise us 
spirits^ but does not seem to have had so much of 
the scholar in him as to have been able to lay 
them. 

r4 The 



f 2 Observations on 

The gay and the witty will no doubt laugh at 
every thing he has advanced : Perhaps it will be 
granted on all hands, that he has not thrown any 
new Ughts on the dark subject. I make no pre- 
tensions to any abilities for discussing the ques- 
tion ; and am of opinion, that as we know so little 
of the invisible world, v;e cannot express ourselves 
with too much diffidence in speaking of it. — It 
must however be allowed, that writers of the high- 
est character for probity and knowledge have 
transmitted to us accounts of spirits and appari- 
tions. Fancy, imagination, misinterpretations of 
the sacred writings on that subject, or credulity, 
must have deceived tJtem : For it is impossible to 
believe them guilty of the baseness of an intention 
to deceive us. The frequent impostures (I shall 
only instance the Cock-lane ghost, in our own 
times) that are to be met with of this kind, natu- 
rally incline us to believe, that all such relations 
are either the forgeries of cunning men, or the 
idle tales of weak ones. It is impossible to follow 
our author through all the " howbeits, moreovers, 
" and neverthelesses," of his tedious discourse ; 
but to one thing in his peroration we readily sub- 
scribe our most unfeigned assent ; it is, " That a 
" good man has not the least reason to fear the 
" spite and malice of all the devils in hell." 

Our Divine discovers every where an intention 
of rooting out the old man from the hearts of his 
readers : I shall be sparing of wy quotations of 
chapter and verse, as I do not think this a proper 
place to imitate him in, and purpose only, on the 
present occasion, to eraze the vestiges of the old 

xvoniany 



Chapter VL 73 

^iL'omany the impressions of which are still too vi- 
sibly to be traced on human nature. 

It was the fashion when Mr Bourne wrote, that 
clergymen should lard every composition with 
Scripture phrases, and nothing seems to have 
been thought palatable by them, in which every 
period was not seasoned with a spice of divinity, 
—These great textuaries overlooked one passage 
of holy writ, " To every thing there is a season/^ 
Religion is one thing, and the entertainment of in-^ 
nocent curiosity another. — If clergymen take care 
not to permit these relcuratious from severer studies 
to engross too much of their tirfie, none but nar- 
row-minded bigots will think the investigation of 
ancient manners an improper amusement for them. 

The Spectator *, accounting for the rise and 
progress of ancient superstition, tells us, our fore- 
fathers looked upon nature with more reverence 
and horror, before the world was enlightened by 
learning and philosophy, and loved to astonish 
themselves with the apprehensions of witchcraft, 
prodigies, charms, and enchantments. — There 
was not a village in England that had not a ghost 
in it — the church-yards were all haunted — every 
common had a circle of fairies belonging to it — 

and 



* There Is another passage in the Spectator, where he intro- 
duces the girls in the neighbourhood and his landlady's daughters 
telling stories of spirits and apparitions ; — how they stood pale as 
ashes at the foot of a bed, and walked over church-yards by moon- 
light ; — of their being conjured to the Red Sea, &c. — He wittily 
observes, " that one spirit raises/ another, and at the end of every 
^' story, the whole company closed their ranks and crowded about 
f' the fire." 



74 Observations on 

and there was scarce a shepherd to be met with 
who had not seen a spirit Hence 



Those tales of vulgar sprites. 



Whidh frighted boys relate on winter nights, 
How cleanly milk-maids meet the fairy train. 
How heedless horses drag the clinking chain : 
Night-roaming ghosts by saucer eye-balls kno^vn, 
The common spectres * of each country town. 

Gay, 

Our Shakesp ear's ghosts excel all others :— The 
temble indeed is his forte :— How awful is that 
description of the dead time of nighty the season of 
their perambulation ! 

** 'Tis now the very witching time of night, 
" When church yards yawn, and hell itself breathes out 
*' Contagion to the world f ." 

The ancients, because the cock gives notice of 
the approach and break of day, have, with a 
propriety equal to any thing in their mythology, 

dedi- 

* Mr Gay has left us too a pretty tale of an apparition : — The 
golden mark being found in bed, is indeed after the indelicate mari- 
ner of Swift, but yet is one of those happy strokes, that rival the fe- 
licity of that dash of the spunge which (as Pliny tells us) hit off 
so well the expression of the froth in Protogenes' dog. — It is im- 
possible not to envy the author the conception of a thought, which 
we know not whether to call more comical or more pointedly saty* 
rical, 

1 f Thus also in Hume's Douglass : 

In such a place as this, at such an hour, 
If ancestry can be in aught believ'd, 
Descending spirits have convers'd with man, 
And told the secrets of the world unkno^vn. 

In Scotland, children dying unbapti%ed (called tarans) were 
supposed to wander in woods and solitudes, lamenting their hard 
fate, and were said to be often seen. — It is thought here very un- 
lucky to go over their graves,— It is vulgarly called going over 
** uncliristened ground.'''* 



ftiii 



Chapter VL 75 

dedicated this bird to Apollo. — They have also 
made him the emblem of watchfulness *, from 
the circumstance of his summoning men to their 
business by his cromng^ and have therefore dedi- 
cated him also to Mercury, With the lark, he 
may be poetically stiled, " the herald of the 
morn." 

The day civil or political has been divided into 
thirteen t parts. The after-midnight and the dead 
of the nighty are the most solemn of them all, and 
have therefore, it should seem, been appropriated 
by ancient superstition to the walking of spirits. 

CHAR 

* Vanes on the tops of steeples were anciently in the form of a 
cock (called from hence weather-cocks), and put up in papal times 
to remind the clergy of watchfulness. " In summitate Crucis, quae 
** Campanario vulgo imponitur, Galli Gallinacei effingi solet JF/- 
" gura^ quae Ecclesiarum Rectores Vigilantise admoneat." 

Du Cange. Gloss. 

\ 1. After-midnight. 2. Cock-crow. 3. The space between 
the first cock-crow and break of day. 4. The dawn of the morn- 
ing. 5. Morning. 6. Noon. "7. Afternoon. 8. Sunset. 9. 
Twilight. 10. Evening. 11. Candle time. 12, Bed time. 13. 
The dead of the night. - The church of Rome made four nocturnal 
vigils : The Conticinium, Gallicinium or cock-crow, Intempestum 
et Antelucinum. 

Durand, de Nocturnis. 

Dr Johnson, in his description of the Buller of Buchan, in Scot- 
land, pleasantly tells us, " If I had any malice against a walking 
" spirit, instead of laijing him in the Red Sea, 1 would condemn 
•* him to reside in the Buller of Buchan," 

The streets of this northern metropolis were formerly (so vul- 
gar tradition has it) haunted by a nightly guest, which appeared 
in the shape of a mastiff dog, &c. and terrified such as were afraid 
of shadows. This word is a corruption of the Angle- Saxon ^a^ r^ 
spiritus, anima. — I have heard, when a boy, many stories conceri^- 
inff it. 



76 The Antiquities of 



CHAP. VII. 

Of Church-yards ; zvhy the Vulgar are gene' 
rally afraid of passing through thtm at 
Night : The Original of this Fear : That 
there is nothing in them now^ more than in 
other places to he afraid of 

THE most of ignorant people are afraid of 
going through a church-yard at night- 
time. If they are obhp;ed upon some hasty 
and urgent affair, they fear and tremble, till 
they are btyond its bounds, but they general- 
ly avoid it, and go further about. It would, 
tio question, be better if there were fewer path- 
ways through church-yards than there are, 
both as it would prevent several abuses com- 
mitted in them, and also cause the ashes of the 
dead to be in greater quiet, and more undis- 
turbed peace : We should not then see church- 
yards changed into common duno-hills, nor 
should we tread so frequently upon the bones 
of our friends : but when, for the conveniency 
of neighbourhood, or other reasons, there are 
allowed public ways, it is a very great weak- 
ness to be afraid of passing through them. 

The reason of this fear is, a notion thev 
have imbibed, that in church-yards there is a 
frequent walking of spirits at the dead time 

of 



The Common People. 77 

of night. Indeed there is at that time some- 
thing awful and horrible every where, and it 
must be confessed something more solemn in a 
ehiirch-yardy than in the generality of other 
places ; but that it is then more frequented 
with apparitions and ghosts than other places 
are, is at this time of day entirely groundless, 
and without any reason. 

The original of this timorousness may be 
deduced from the heathens : For they believ- 
ed that the departed ghosts came out of their 
tombs and sepulchres, and wandered about the 
place where the body lay buried. Thus* 
Virgil tells us, That Maris could call the 
ghosts out of their sepulchres : And *f* Ovid^ 
that ghosts came out of the sepulchres, and 
wandered about : And Clemens Alexandrinus, 
in his Admonitions to the Gentiles, upbraids 
them with the gods they worshipped ; which, 
X says he, are wont to appear at tombs and 
sepulchres, and which are nothing but fading 
spectres and airy forms. And the learned 
Mr Mede observes, from a passage of this 
same ancient father, § " That the heathens 
'' supposed the presence and power of daemons, 
" (for so the Greeks called the souls of men 

" de- 

* Maerin saepe animas imis excire sepulcliris, 

— — — Vidz Bucol. 8. Virg, 

f Nunc animae tenues. — Sepulchris -Errant.— -OwV. Fast. 
X Poos oun, ^S'c, Admanit. ad Gent. P. 37. 
§ Mede^ Lib. 3. P. 633. de Cultu Damon. 






78 The Antiquities of 

" departed) at their coffins and sepulchtes ; 
" as tho' there ahvays remained some natural 
" tye between the deceased and their rehcts/' 
Agreeable to this, Dr Scot^ * in his Discourse 
of the Christian Life, speaks of " gross and 
*' sensual souls, who appeared often, after their 
" separation, in church-yards or charnel-houses ^ 
" where their bodies were laid. The -f- soul 
" that is infected with a great lust to the bo^ 
" dy^ continues so for a great while ajter 
" deaths and suffering many reluctances^ ho^ 
" vers about this visible place, and is hardly 
" drawn from thence by force, by the daemon 
" that hath the guard and care of it. By the 
" visible place, he means J their monuments 
" and sepulchres, where the shadowy f ant asms 
" of such souls, have sometimes appeared!* 

It having therefore been a current opinion 
of the heathens, that places of burial and 
church-yards were frequently haunted with 
spectres and apparitions, it is easy to imagine, 
that the opinion has been handed from them, 
among the ignorant and unlearned, through- 
out all the ages of Christianity to the present 
day. And indeed, though now there may be 
no such things, yet that there have been, need 
not be disputed ; not that they were the real 
souls of men departed : For I cannot see tor 

what 

* Scot, Christ. Life, P. Tfl. Part 1. 

t Flat. Fhced. P. 348. % F. 386. ibid. 



The Common People. 79 

reason it should be supposed, " (* however un- 
<* acquainted such souls might be with the 
" pleasures of spirits) that they are permitted 
" to wander^ to hover about, and linger after 
** their bodies^ It seems rather to be true, 
what is mentioned of such apparitions in St A-- 
thanasius*s questions to Antiochius^ that f these 
apparitions of the saints which appear at tombs 
and temples, are not the souls of the saints 
themselves, but the good angels appearing in 
their likeness. And I imagine it must be so 
too, with the souls of bad men ; the}'^ appear 
not themselves, but they are represented by 
the evil angels. For the soul upon the depar- 
ture, returns to GOD that gave it, who allots 
it its station in the world of spirits, where it is 
kept till the day of judgment in happiness or 
misery, when it shall receive its completion of 
the one, or the other. However, whatever 
these apparitions were, they are a certain proofs 
that such appearances have been in such places ; 
and indeed, to add no more, it is the whole 
voice of antiquity. 

But now with us, God be thanked, the scene 
is changed, we live not in the darkness of error, 
but in the hght of truth ; we worship not dee- 
mons^ but the God of the whole earth ; and 
our temples are not the temples of idols, but 
the temples of the holy God. If among the 

heathens 

* Sc6t. Chrht. ibid, f Man. Tom, 2. P. 340. 



80 Observations^ &c. 

heathens such delusions were permitted, it was 
because GOD had forsaken them : But when 
he vouchsafes to have his residence in his holy 
temple, we are the further from harm, the near- 
er we approach it ; ^ There the sparrow hath 
found her an house, and the swallow a nest, 
where she may lay her young ; and there shall 
no harm happen to good men, but they shall 
be rather protected, because they are so near 
their Father s house, the house of prayer. 

* Psal. Ixxxiv. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER VII. 

WE learn from Moresm *, that church-yards 
were used for the purposes of interment, 
in order to remove superstition. — Burial was in 

ancient 

* Coemeteria hinc sunt. Lycurgus, omni superstitione sublata, 
et ut van^e superstitionis omnem enelleret e mentibus suorum formi- 
Jinefriy inhumari intra urbem et sepulchra extrui circa Deorum 
Templa, is'c. Deprav. Rel. Orig. in verbo. 

Mr Strutt tells us, that before the time of Christianity it was 
held unlawful to bury the dead within the cities, but they used to 
carry them out into the fields hard by, and there deposited them. 
Towards the end of the sixth century, Augustine obtained of King 
Ethelbert, a temple of idols (where the king used to worship before 
his conversion) and made a hurying-place of it 5 but St Cuthbert af- 
terwards obtained leave to have Xards made to the churches, proper 
for the reception of the dead, 

Anglo-Saxon J^sz, Vol. I. p. 69. 



Chapter VIL 81 

ancient times "without the walls of cities and towns* 
Lycurgus, he tells lis, first introduced graven 
stones within the walls, arid as it were brought 
home the ghosts to the very doors. — Thus we 
compel horses that are apt to startle, to make the 
nearest possible approaches to the objects at 
which they have taken the alarm. 

Our author is certainly very right, when he 
tells us that church-yards are as little frequented 
by apparitions and ghosts as other places, and 
that therefore it is a weakness to be afraid of* 
passing through them. Superstition however will 
always attend ignorance ; and the night, as she 
continues to be the mother of dews, will also ne- 
ver fail of being the fruitful parent of chimerical 
fears *. 

When the sun sets, shadows, that shew'd at noori 
But small, appear most long and terrible, 

Dryden, 

The inconveniences complained of by bur au- 
thor in the first part of this chapter, we have had 
the pleasure of seeing remedied. With great de- 
cency and propriety the church-yards here are 
now all inclosed : they are no longer the recep- 
tacles of filth, or haunts of nightly lewdness ; and 
the ashes of our friends and ancestors are suffer- 
ed to remain (as he wished) " in greater quiet^ 
" and more undisturbed peace." 

G CHAP. 

* Now it is the time of night, 
That the graves all gaping wide, 
Ev'ry one lets forth his sprite. 
In the church-way path to glide.- 

^$hakes^car. 



62 The Antiquities of 

CHAP. VIII. 

Of visiting Wells and Fountains : The origi- 
nal of this custom : The naming of them 
of great antiquity: The worship paid them 
by the Papists was gross idolatry, 

IN the dark ages of Popery^ it was a custom, 
if anv well had an awful situation, and was 
seated in some lonely melancholy vale ; if its 
water was clear and limpid, and beautifully * 
margined with the tender grass ; or if it was 
looked upon, as having a medicinal quality ; to 
gift it to some Saint, and honour it with his 
name. Hence it is, that we have at this day 
wells and fountains called, some St Johns, St 
Mary Magdalen's, St Marys well, &c. 

To these kind of wells, the common people 
are accustomed to go, on a summer's evening, 
to refresh themselves with a walk after the toil 
of the day, to drink the water of the fountain, 
and enjoy the pleasing prospect of shade and 
stream. 

Now this custom, (though at this time of 
day, very commendable, and harmless, and in- 
nocent) seems to be the remains of that super- 
stitious practice of the Papists, of paying 

ado- 



* ■ Viridi si marglne clauderet undw,— • Herba.^ 

Juven» Sat, 3. 



The Common People. 83 

adoration to wells and fountains : For they 
imagined there was some holiness and sanctity 
in them, and ^o Worshipped them. In the ca- 
nons of St Anselm, made in the year 1102, we 
find this superstitious practice in some measure 
forbid. * " Let no one attribute reverence or 
" sanctity to a dead body, or a fountain, or 
*' other things, (as sometimes is to our know- 
'* ledge) without the bishop's authority.'' And 
in the l6th of the canons made in the reign of 
king Edgar ^ in the year 963, it k ordered, 
" t That every priest industriously advance 
"Christianity, and extinguish heathenism, and 
" forbid the worshipping of fountains, &c. Mr 
" Johnson says upon this canon, that the wor- 
" shipping of wells and fountains, was a super- 
" stition which prevailed in this nation, till the 
" age before the reformation : Nay, I cannot 
" say, it is extinguished yet among the papists^. 
" In the ages of dark popery it was thought 
" sufficient to forbid the honouring of wells 
" and fountains, without the bishop's approba- 
" tion." 

The giving of u'dmes to wells, is of great 
antiquity : We find it a custom in the days 
of the old patriarchs. Abraham observed thi$ 
custom ; and therefore the well, which he 

G 2 reco*- 

* Johnson Consti. St Anselm. Can. 26, 
-f Johnson Gonsti. 960; 



84 The Antiquities y &c. 

recovered from the servants of Abimeleck, he 
* called Beer-sheba, or the Well of the Oath, 
because there they sware both of them. Thus 
also Isaac, when his herdsmen had found a 
well, and the herdsmen of Gerar had a con- 
test with them about the right of it, -j- called 
the name of the well Esek, that is. Strife ; 
because they strove with him. And he digged 
another welU and strove for that also, and he 
called the name of it Sitnah, that is. Hatred, 
And he removea from thence, and digged ano- 
ther well, and for that they strove not ; and 
he called the name of it Rehoboth, that is. 
Room, And he said, for now the LORD 
hath made room for us, and we shall be fruii- 
ful in the land. And we read it was at Jacob's^ 
well that Jesus talked with the woman of 5a- 
maria. To give names therefore to wells, is 
of an ancient standing ; but to pay homage 
and worship to them, was never heard of a- 
mong the people of God, till they sunk into 
gross idolatry, and became worshippers of 
stocks and stones: When the creature became 
worshipped instead of the Creator, then was 
this custom first introduced, in the ages of Po- 
pish ignorance and idolatry. 

There need be no question, but as this custom 
is practically heathenish, so it is also originally 
for the heathens were wont to worship streams 

and 

* Gen. xxi. 31. f Ibid. 26. 



Observations, &c 85 

and fountains, and to suppose that the nymphs, 
whom they imagined the goddesses of the wa- 
ters, presided over them. As the papists have 
borrowed many of their silly and superstitious 
ceremonies from the religion of the heathens, so 
this in particular, a sottish, stupid, and abomi- 
nable custom, they could borrow no where 
else. For we had no such custom, neither at 
any time the churches of GOD, 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER VIII. 

I Find little that may be added to our Author's 
account of the superstitious adoration of 
wells and fountains. There are interdictions of 
this superstition in the laws of King Canute also, 
preserved in Wheloc's edition of Bede's Church 
History. * 

I have frequently observed shreds, or bits of 
rags, upon the bushes that over-hang a well, in 
the road to Benton, a village in the neighbour- 
hood of Newcastle. It is called the Rag Well. 
This name is undoubtedly of a very long stand- 
ing: The spring has been visited for some disorder 
or other, and these rag-offerings are the reliques of 
the then prevailing popular superstition. — Thus 
Mr Pennant tells us, they visit the well of Spey, 

G 3 in 

* pse-oenycype bi^. f man peojajjije — oJ>])e j:I6'op2creji. pyllaj'. oJ)J)e 
)-'C3naj'. &c. 5. Le^es CanuU Regis, p. 108. 



86 Observations, &c. 

in Scotland, for many distempers, and the well of 
Drachaldy for as many, offering small pieces of 
money and bits of rags *. Pennant's Add. p. 18. 
Fitzstephen, Monk of Canterbury, in his de- 
scription of the ancient city of London, has these 
words, " There are on the north part of London, 
" principal fountains of water, sweet, wholesome, 
*' and clear, streaming from among the glistering 
f' pebble stones. — -In this number Hoh/ Well, and 
" Clerken Well, and St Clemeiifs Well, ^re of most 
" note, and frequented above the rest, when 
" scholars and the youth of the city tuke the air 
" abroad in the summer evenings t." Stow. p. 710. 
A well was a most valuable treasure in those 
hot and dry countries which composed the scene of 
the patriarchal history, and therefore we find in 
Genesis that it was a frequent subject of conten- 
tion t. 

CHAP. 

^ The custom of affixing ladles of iron, &c. by a chain, to welh^ 
is of great antiquity. Mr Strutt, in his Anglo-Saxon ^ra, tells 
us, that Edwine caused ladles or cups of brass to be fastened to the 
clear springs and "jueils, for the refreshment of the passengers. Ve- 
nerable Bede is his authority. — This custom is still retained in ma- 
ny places in the North. 

f Mr Shaw, in his History of the Province of Moray, tells U5, 
that true rational. Christian knowledge, which was almost quite 
lost under Popery, made very slow progress after the Reformation j 
—that the prevailing ignorance was attended with much supersti- 
tion and credulity *, heathenish and Romish customs were much 
practised j pilgrimages to luei/s and chapels were frequent, &c. — 
We had a remarkable well of this kind at Jesmond, at the distance 
of about a mile from Newcastle. — One of our principal streets is 
said to have its name from an inn that was in it, to which the pil- 
grims, that flocked hither for the benefit of the supposed holy wa- 
ter, used to resort. 

X Tontinalia, in Roman antiquity, was a religious feast, cele- 
brated on the 13th of October, in honour of the nymphs of wells 
and fountains. — The ceremony consisted in throwing nosegay* in- 
to \}iitfoun tains, and putting crowns of flowers upon the xvei/s. 



The Antiquities^ Sec. 87 



CHAP. IX. 

Of Omens : Their Original : The Observation 
of them sinfuL 

OMENS and prognostications of things are 
still in the mouths of all, though only ob- 
served by the vulgar. In country places espe- 
cially, they are in great repute, and are the di- 
rectors of several actions of life ; being looked 
on by them as presages of things future, or the 
determiners of present good or evil : If a * hare 
cross their way, it is an omen of ill luck : If a 
f- crow cry, it portends something evil : If J 
an owl, which they reckon a most abominable 
and unlucky bird, sends forth its hoarse and 
dismal voice, it is an omen of the approach of 
3ome terrible thing ; that some dire calamity, 
and some great misfortune, is near at hand. 
If salt fall towards them, to be sure ^something 
has happened to one in the family, or is short- 
ly to happen to themselves : Such also is the 
G 4 chattering 

* Lepus quoque occurrens in via, infortunatum iter praesagit St 
|)minosum. A/ex. ab Alex- Lib. 5. C. 13. P. 685. 

f Saepe sinistra cava praedixit ab ilice cornix. Virg. BucoL 
X Maxime vero abominatus est bubo tristis & dira avis, voce 
fuiiesta & gemitu, qui formidolosa, dirasque necessitates, & mag- 
aos moles instarc portendit. Alex, ab Alex. Lib. 5. C. 13, P. 680. 



88 



jT^e Antiquities of 



chattering of a magpye, the cry of ravens, the 
dead-watch, crickets, &c. 

This is a copy of the omens of the heathens, 
* who never went upon any enterprize, nor un- 
dertook any business of moment, without con- 
sulting the augurs and wise-men, and being 
guided by omens and presages of things. Hence 
it >vas that they consulted the intrails of beasts, 
the flights of birds, and several other things : 
Aiid that the very things above-mentioned, as 
the authorities they declare, have been observ- 
ed by them; yea, they have observed them 
even in the remotest ages beyond the days of 
the oldest records. The heathen world there- 
fore was full of them, and without all doubt 
they have been handed down to us from these 
times. 

And as it is not to be questioned, but we 
had them from the heathens, so in all proba- 
bility the heathens have taken them from the 
people of God, and built many of their follies 
and ominous superstitions on a custom which 
they alone were indulged in. For in the ear- 
liest ag-e of the world, when a matter of any 
great consequence was depending, and the 
servants of God would know what the event 
would be, they asked a sigji of God, by de- 



siring 



* Dcindc auguribus & reliqui reges usi : Et exactis reglbus, 
nihil publice sine anspiciis nee domi nee militiae gerabatur. Cic. 
tfe Divin. Lib. 1. 



»f,il 



The Common People. 89 

siring that such a thing might happen, if they 
were to succeed, and God was sometimes so 
condescending as to grant them their desire. 
Thus we read, That * Jonathan accompanied 
only by his armour-bearer, not fearing the 
steepness of the rocks, nor multitudes of ene- 
mies, attempted the garrison of the Philistines 
and conquered, through a token of this nature. 
If they say^ says he to his armour-bearer, TaV" 
ry until we come up, then .we zmll stand still 
in our place, and will not go up unto them ; 
but if they say. Come up unto us, then we will 
go up ; for the LORD hath delivered them 
into our hands, and this shall be a sign unto us. 
And so indeed it came to pass, God, who had 
inspired Jonathan with this thought, directing 
the tongues of the others according to his wish- 
es. In like manner, when the good old servant 
of Abraham had arrived at the city of Nahor, 
to find a wife for his master's son ] we have him 
desiring of God that the sign of the woman he 
should pitch upon, might be her saying. Drink, 
and I will give thy camels drink also, t And 
he said, O Lord GOD of my master Abraham, 
I pray thee send me good speed this day, and 
shew kindness unto my master Abraham : Be- 
hold, I stand here by the well of water, and 
the daughters of the men of the city come out 

to 

* 1 Sam. xiv. 9. f Gen. x,xiv. 12. 



90 The Antiquities^ SfC. 

to draw water. And let it come to pass, that 
the damsel to whom I shall say, let down thy 
pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink ; and 
she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy ca- 
mels drink also : Let the same be she that thou 
hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and 
thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed 
kindness unto my master. This happened ac- 
cording to his prayer, by which he knew that 
the Lord had prospered his journey. Now 
this custom we know the Philistines imitated, 
when they would know whether they had been 
afflicted by the God of Israel for keeping the 
ark. ^ They took the ark of the LORD, and 
laid it on a cart, and sent it away. And they 
said. If it goeth by the way of his own coast 
to Beth-shemoth, then he hath done us this 
great evil. 

In these early ages of the world, God per- 
mitted such things upon extraordinary occa- 
sions, to be asked by his own people. But 
they were only peculiar to those times. We 
have no warrant for doing the like : it be- 
comes not us to prescribe means to God, by 
which w^e may judge of our future success, 
but to depend on his power and wisdom, his 
care and providence. The observation of 
omens, such as the falling of salt, a hare 

crossing 

» 1 Sam. vi. 9. 



Observations^ &c. 91 

crossing the way, of the dead-watch, of crick- 
ets, &c. are sinful and diabolical: they are 
the inventions of the devil, to draw men from 
a due trust in God, and make them his own 
vassals. For by such observations as these, 
they are the slaves of superstition and sin, and 
have all the while no true dependance upon 
God, no trust in his providence. 



OBSERVATIONS 

O N 

CHAPTER IX. 

VARIOUS are the popular superstitions with 
regard to omens, — To those our author 
has hinted at, many more might be added. 

The breaking a looking glass is accounted a very 
unlucky accident. — Mirrors were formerly used 
by magicians in their superstitious and diabolical 
operations ; and there was an ancient kind of 
divination by the looking glass * : Hence it should 
seem the present popular notion. 

When our cheek bums, or ear tingles, we usually 
say somebody is talking of us — a conceit of great 
antiquity, and racked among superstitious opini- 
ons by Pliny t. — Dr Browne supposes this to have 
proceeded from the notion pf a signifying genius, 

or 

* See the Greek Scholia on the "Nuhes of Aristophanes, p. 169. 
f Absentes tinnitu aurium preesentire sermones de se receptum 

Thus 



92 



Observations on 



or universal Mercury^ that conducted sounds to 
their distant subjects, and taught to hear by touch. 

It is accounted unlucky to destroy swallows ; — 
This is probably a Pagan relique. We read in 
Julian, that these birds were sacred to the penates^ 
or household gods of the ancients, and therefore 
were preserved. They were honoured anciently 
as the nuncios of the spring.— -The Rhodians are 
said to have had a solemn anniversary song, to 
welcome in the swallow. See Anacreon's Ode 
to that bird. 

1 think it is Mr Addison that supposes the po- 
pular ballad of the babes in the wood to have pre- 
served the lives of many robin redbreasts. The 
subsequent stanza places them in a very favour- 
able point of view : 

** No burial this pretty pair 

" Of any man receives, 
" Till robin-red-breast painfully 

" Did cover them with leaves." 

Vide Dr Percy's Collect. Ballads, 

The ancient augurs foretold things to come by 
the chirping or singijig of certain birds * — the croWy 
the pye^ the chough, he. hence perhaps the old 

womanish 

Thus also the distich noted by Dalecampius : 

Garrula quid totis resonas mihi noctibus auris / 
Nescio quem dicis nunc meminisse mei^ 

Moresin enumerates some of these superstitious omens : — The 
croaking of ravens, the hooting of ow/s^ the unseasonable crowing 
of cocks, the hornedness of the moon, the cloudy rising of the sun^ 
the shooting of slnrs, the coming in and going out of strange cats, 
the sudden fall of /icns fiom the house-top, &c. — Corvorum croci- 
tatum super tecto, bubonum bubulatum in transitu, Gallorum gal- 
linaceorum cucurritum intemjx?stivum — lunae corniculationtm, Solis 
nubilum ortum, steliarum trajectiones in Acre — felium peregrina- 
rum egressum, ingressum — Gallinarum subitum e tecto casum 
jtupent, &c. Depiav. Rel. Orig. p. 21. 

* The ancient Britons made use of the /lare for the purposes 
of divination. They were never killed for the table. It is per- 
haps from hence that they have been accounted ominous by tha 
\-ulgnr. Caesar, p. 89. 



Chapter IX, 



93 



womanish observation, that when the pye chaU 
fers, we shall have stj^angers *. 

It is vulgarly thought unlucky to kill spiders. 
— Can this be in support of the Scotch proverb, 
" Dirt bodes luck ?" However this be, it serves 
in many places for an apology for the laziness 
of housewives, in not destroying the cobwebs t. 

There was an ancient custom of opening some 
celebrated poem, as Homer's or Virgirs, and 
whatever passage presented itself first to the eye, 
constituted a kind of answer by oracle : It was 
C2Llledthe\Sortes Homerica^^ andSortes Virgiliance, — 
The superstitious among the ancient Christians 
practised a similar kind of divination, by opening 
the Old or New Testament. Mr Pennant gives 
us an account of another sort of divination, used 
in Scotland, called " reading the spealhone^ or the 
" blade bone of a shoulder of mutton well scrap- 
*' ed X, When Lord Loudon, he says, was obli- 
" gedto retreat before the rebels to the isle of Sky, 
'' a common soldier, on the veiy moment the bat- 
*' tie of Culloden was decided, proclaimed the 
*' victory at that distance, pretending to have dis- 
*' covered the event by looking through the 
« bone." p. 155. 

One 

* Editha persuaded her husband to build a monastery at Osney, 
upon the chattering of pies . Lambarde's Diet. p. :260» 

f This is also transmitted from the magicians of ancient Rome. 
See Pliny's Natural History.— Presages and prognostications were 
made from their manner of weaving their wehs. 

In the diary of Elias Ashmole, Esq. 11th April, 1681, he ac- 
quaints us, " I took early in the morning a good dose of elixer, 
** and hung three spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague 
** away — Deo gratias." Ashmole was a judicial astrologer, and 
the patron of the renowned Mr Lilly. Par nobile fratrum ! 

X Mr Shaw says picked : no iron must touch it. Vide Tacit. 
Annal. 14. 



t'>- 



94 Observations on 

One may add to Mr Pennant's account, the 
strange qualification many of the inhabitants of 
the western islands of Scotland are said to have, 
called second sight. It is a faculty of seeing things 
to come, or at a great distance, represented to the 
imagination as if actually visible and present. 
This strange thing has been well attested, and that 
by authors of credit. Credat Jicdceus apella I — See 
the appendix, article Second sight. 

The fungous parcells (so Browne calls them) 
about the wicks of candles^ are commonly thought 
to foretell strangers : with us they are called let" 
ters at the candle. He tells us, (in his usual pe- 
dantry of stile, which is well atoned for by his 
good sense and learning,) " they only indicate a 
" moist and pluvious air, which hinders the avo- 
" lation of the light and favillous particles, where- 
" upon they settle upon the snast." Of this 
kind is the present northern notion of foretelling 
strangers from the black filmy appendages (so per- 
haps the author of the Vulgar Errors would have 
called them) on the hars of out fire grates. 

It is accounted lucky to throw an old * shoe af- 
ter a person, when we wish him to succeed in 
what he is going about. 

Putting on one stockings with the wrong side 
outward, without design \ — ^getting out of bed 

hack' 

* For the ancient religious use of the shoe, vide Antiquitat. Con- 
vivial, p. 228. 

There was an old ceremony In Ireland, of electing a person to 
any office by throwing an old shoe over his head. See the Idol of 
the Clownes, p. 19. 

Mr Shenstone somewhere asks, " May not the custom of scraps 
" ing when we bow, be derived from the ancient custom of throw- 
'* ing their shoes backucards •ff their feet ?" In all probability it i». 



Chapter IX. 95 

bachwards^ without premeditation, are reckoned 
good omens. Stumbling in going down stairs, [and 
meeting a weasel^ are held to be bad ones *. Va- 
rious and ridiculous are the superstitions concern- 
ing moles on different parts of the body. 

Dr Browne tells us, that to sit cross-legged^ or 
with our fingers pectinated or shut together, is ac- 
counted bad, and friends will persuade us from it. 
— The same conceit religiously possessed the an- 
cients, as is observable from Pliny, " Foplites aU 
" temis genibus imponere nefas olim," and also 
from Athenaeus, that it was an old veneficious 
practice ; and Juno is made in this posture, to 
hinder the delivery of Alcmsena. Vide Vulg. Er- 
rors. 

The observation on the falling of salt, proceeds 
from the ancient opinion that salt was incorrupti- 
ble ; it had therefore been made the symbol of 
friendship ; and if it fell casually, they thought 
their friendship would not be of long duration. 
Bailey's Dictionary, &c. 

The witty dean of St Patrick's, in his invective 
against wood, gives a fine philosophical account of 
the death-watch t. 



A wood worm 



. That lies in ©Id wood, like a hare in her form : 

With 

* See Congreve's Love for Love. 

Rusticanum et forte Ofelli proverbium est. — ^i somniis et Au" 
guriis credit, nunquam fore securum. Ego sententiam et verissi- 
mam et fidelissimam puto. Quid enim refert ad consequentiam re- 
rum, si quis semel aut amplius sternutaverit ? Quid si oscitaverit ? 
His mens nugis incauta seducitur sed fidelis nequaquam acquiescit. 
Johan. Sarisber. de Nugis Curial. Fol. 27. 

f Pliny, in his Natural History, 29th Book, mentions the cricket 
as much esteemed by the ancient magicians : No doubt our super- 
stitions concerning these little domestics hg,ve been transmitted to 
■m from his times. 



] ::. 



96 Observations on 

With teeth or with claws it will bite or will scratch, 
And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch : 
Because, like a watch it always cries click j 
Then woe be to those in the house who are sick j 
For, as sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost. 
If the maggot cries click, when it scratches the post. 
But a kettle of scalding hot water injected, 
Infallibly cures the timber aflfected : 
The omen is broken, the danger is over. 
The maggot will die, and the sick will recover *. 

Various were the species of divination t prac- 
tised by ancient superstition. — The Druids inter- 
preted omenSy and doubtless both invented and 
handed down many of them. 

No bondage seems so dreadful as that of super- 
stition : It hath ever imposed the most abject kind 
of slavery. I have known (says the Spectator) the 
shooting of a star^ spoil a night's rest, and have 

seen 



* Mr Gay, in his Pastoral Dirge, has preserved some of the 
YVit?! prognostications of death. 

The weather's bell 

Before the drooping flock toll'd forth her knell ; 
The solemn death-watch click'd the hour she dy'd. 
And shrilling crickets in the chimney cry'd. 
The boding raven on her cottage sat. 
And with hoarse croaking warn'd us of her fate : 
The lambkin J which her wonted tendance bred, 
Dropp'd on the plains that fatal instant dead j 
Swarm'd on a rotten stick the bees I spy'd. 
Which erst I saw when Goody Dobson dy'd. 

f Such as hydromancy, making conjectures by water : — Lihano- 
7nancy, divination by frankincense : — Onychomancy or Onymancy, 

divination performed by the nails of an unpolluted boy In short, 

by water, fire ^ earth, air, by thefiight of birds, by lots, by dreams, 
by the wind, &.c. &c. 

Divination by the rod or wand is mentioned in Ezekiel. 

Our vulgar notion of the hazel'' s tendency to a vein of lead ore. 
sewn of coal, &c. seems to be a vestige of this rod divinaticm. 



Chapter IX. 97 

seen a man in love grow pale and lose his appetite 
upon the plucking of a tnerry thought. — ^A screech 
owl at midnight has alarmed a family more than 
a band of robbers, and the voice of a cricket has 
struck more terror than the roaring of a lion. 
Nothing, he observes, is so inconsiderable, which 
may not appear dreadful to an imagination that is 
filled with omens and prognostics : — A rusty 7iailj 
or a crooked pin shoots up into prodigies. 

For when we tliink fate hovers o'er our heads, 
Our apprehensions shoot beyond all bounds : 
Owls, ravens, crickets seem the watch of death j 
Nature's worst vermin scare her godlike sons ; 
Echoes, the very leavings of a voice, 
Grow babbling ghosts^ and call us to our graves. 
Each mole-hill thought swells to a huge Olympus j 
While we, fantastic dreamers, heave, and puff. 
And sweat with an imagination'' s weight. 

Dryden's and Lee's Oedipus. 

The author of the Vulgar Errors tells us, that 
hollow stones are hung up in stables to prevent the 
7iight mare, or ephialtes. They are usually called 
in the north, holy stones. — The chips of gallows and 
places of execution are used for amulets against a- 
gues. I saw lately some saw-dust, in which blood 
was absorbed, taken for some such purpose from off 
the scaffold, on the beheading of one of the rebel 
lords, 1746. — For warts, we rub our hands before 
the moon, and commit any maculated part to the 
touch of the dead. — Various are the superstitious 
charms for driving away rats, &c. 

Dr Browne has left several curious observations 
on these popular notions. That candles and lights 
(says he) bum blue and dim at the apparition of 
spirits, may be true, if the ambient air be full of 

H sul. 



98 Observations on 

sulphureous spirits, as it happens oftentimes in 
mines. — He admits that conjectures of prevalent 
humours may be collected from the spots in our 
nails ^ but rejects the sundry divinations vulgarly 
raised upon them ; such as, that spots in the top 
of the nails signify things past ; in the middle, things 
prese7it ; and at the bottom, events to come ; — that 
*white specks rpresage our felicity ; blue ones our 
misfortunes ; those in the nail of the thumb have 
significations of honour ; of the forefinger, riches. 
Palmistry, or divination by the lines of the hand, has 
been deservedly exploded, though the gipsies still 
make pretensions to the knowledge of it. 

Sailors, usually the boldest men alive, are yet 
frequently the very abject slaves of superstitious 
fear. They have various puerile apprehensions 
concerning ^whistling on shipboard, caiTying a 
corpse, &c. all which are vestiges of the old tvoman 
in human nature, and can only be erazed by t\\e 
united efforts o^ pJiilosophy and religion, 

Nourisliing hair upon the moles in tlie face (the 
doctor tells us) is the perpetuation of a very an- 
cient custom. — Thus Pliny : " Ncroos in facie ton- 
*' dere religiosum liabent nunc multi." — From the 
like might proceed the fears o^ poling elf locks, or 
complicated hairs of the head, and also of locks long- 
er than the other hair, they being votary at first, 
and dedicated upon occasion, preserved with 
great care, and accordingly esteemed by o- 
thers.^ — Thus Apuleius : " Adjuro per dulcem 
*' Capilli tui Nodulum /" The set and statary times 
(he farther observes) of paring of 7iaib and cutting 
othair, is thought by many a point of considera- 
tion. 



Chapter IX. 99 

tion, which is perhaps but the continuation of 
an ancient superstition. — To the Romans, it was 
piaculous to pare their nails upon the Nundlnoe^ 
observed every ninth day^ and was also feared 
by others in certain days of the we^/r, according 
to that of Ausonius : Ungms Mercurio^ Barbam 
Jove, Cypride crines. 

Mr Pennant, in describing the customs of 
Highlanders, tells us, that in certain places the 
death of people is supposed to be foretold^ by the 
cries and shrieks of benshi, or the Jairy's wife, 
uttered along the very path where the funeral 
is to pass ; and what in Wales are called corpse^ can^ 
dies, are often imagined to appear and Jbretell mor- 
tality. In the county of Carmarthen, there is 
hardly any one that dies, but some one or other 
sees his light, or candle, — There is a similar super- 
stition among the vulgar in Northumberland : 
They call it seeing the wqff^* of the person whose 
death it foretells, — For an account of the fetch-lights , 
or dead men's candles, vide Athenian Oracle, vol. 
I. p. 76. 

The Rev. Mr Shaw, in his history of the pro- 
vince of Moray, in Scotland, gives the following 
Account of some omens and superstitions still 
preserved there : When a corpse is If ted, the bed 
straw on which the deceased lay, is carried out, 
H 2 and 

* I suspect this northern vulgar word to be a corruption of 
Whiffy a sudden and vehement blast, which Davies thinks is derived 
from the Welch, Ch^vyth, Halitus, Anhelitus, Flatus. 

See Lye's Junii Etymolog. m verbo. 

The spirit Is supposed to glide swiftly by. — Thus in the glossary 
of Lancashire words and phrases, " wap'^t by" is explained " went 
" swiftly by." See a view of the Lancashire dialect, Sec. publish- 
ed at Manchester, 1763. 



VB 



100 Observations on 

and burnt in a place where no beast can come 
near it ; and they pretend to Jlnd next morning in 
the ashes^ the print of the Jbot of that person in 
the family who shall^r^^ die *. 

In hectic and consumptive diseases, they pare 
the nails of the jingers and toes of the patient^ put 
these parings into a r^g* cut from his clothes, then 
wave their ka?id with the r^^ thrice round his head, 
crying, Deas soil ; after which they buri/ the rag 
in some unknown place. He tells us he has seen 
this done ; and Pliny, in his Natural History, men- 
tions it as practised by the magicians^ or druids of 
his time. 

When a contagious disease enters among cattle^ 
ihejire is eMinguished in some villages round ; then 
they force Jire with a wheel, or by rubbing a piece 
of dry wood upon another, and therewith bum 
juniper in the stalls of the cattle^ that the s^noke 
may purify the air about them : They likewise 
boil juniper in water ^ which they sprinkle upon 
the cattle ; this done, the ft^es in the houses are r^- 
kindled from the forced f re. All tliis too (he tells 
us) he has seen done, and has no doubt of its be- 
inff a druid custom. 

^ Mr 



* Dr Goldsmith, in his Vicar of Wakefield, speaking of the 
waking drea77is of his hero's daughters, tells us, " The girls had 
** their omens too \ they felt strange kisses on their lijps ; they 
*' saw rings in the candle, purses bounded from the Jire, and true- 
** love knots lurked at the bottom of every tea-cup.'''' In the north, 
the cinders that bound from the Jire (in this manner) are examined 
by old women, children, &c. and according to their respective 
forms, are called either coffins or purses ; and consequently thought 
to be the presages of death or wealth. Aut Cfesar, aut Nullus I 



Chapter IX. 101 

Mr Shaw further tells us, that the ancient Scots 
much regarded omens upon an expedition. An 
armed man meeting them was a good omen : — If a 
"wrnnan barefoot crossed the road before them, they 
seized her, 2ind. fetched blood from her forehead : 
' — If a deer ^ fox ^ hare^ or any beast of game appear- 
ed, and they did not kill it, it was an unliichy Or 
men *. 

A superstitious opinion vulgarly prevails here, 
that the howling of a dog by night in a neighbour- 
hood, is the presage of death to any that are sick 
in it. I know not what has given rise to this : 
Dogs have been known to stand and howl over 
the bodies of their masters, when they have been 
murdered^ or died an accidental or sudden death. — 
An instance of great sensibility in this faithful ani- 
mal ! 

Shakespear ranks this 2imong omens : 

" The Owl shriek'd at thy birth ; an evil sight ! 
'< The Night Crow cry'd, foreboding luckless time ; 
^« Dogs liowl'd, and hideous tempests shook down trees,''&c. 

Henry VI. 

* Spitting, according to Pliny, was superstitiously observed in a- 
verting ivitchcraft, and in giving a shrewder blow to an enemy. 
Hence seems to be derived the custom our bruisers have, of spitting 
in their hands before they begin their unmanly barbarity. — Se- 
veral other vestiges of this superstition relative to fasting spittle, 
(Fascinationes >f^//i;^y(?;//«« repelli, veteri superstitione creditum est. 
Alex, ab Alex.) mentioned also in Pliny, may yet be traced among 
our Vulgar. — Boys have a custom {inter se^ of spitting their faith, 
or as they also call it here, their said, {soul) when required to make 
asseverations in a matter of consequence. — In combinations of the 
Colliers, &c. in the North, for the purpose of raising their wages, 
they are said to spit upon a stone together, by way of cementing their 
confederacy. — We have too a kind of popular saying, when persons 
are of the same party, or agree in sentiment, " they spit upon the same 
stone,'''* 

3 CHAP. 



1i 



i i 



102 



The Antiquities of 



CHAP. X. 

Of the Country Conversation in a Winters 
Evening : Their Opinions of Spirits and 
Apparitions ; of the Devil's appearing 
with a Cloven Foot ; of Fairies and Hob- 
goblins ; of the Walking Places of Spirits ; 
and of Haunted Houses. 

NOTHING is commoner in country places^ 
than for a whole family in a winter^ 
evenings to sit round the fire, and tell stories 
of apparitions and ghosts. And no question 
of it, but this adds to the natural fearfulness 
of men, and makes them many times ima- 
gine they see things, which really are no- 
thing but their own fancy. From this, and 
seldom any other cause, it is, that herds and 
shepherds have all of them seen frequent ap- 
paritions, and are generally so well stocked 
with stories of their own knowledge. Some 
of them have seen fairies, some spirits in the 
shapes of cows, and dogs, and horses ; and 
some have seen even the devil himself, with 
a cloven foot. All which is either hearsay, 
or a strong imagination. Not that there have 
not been, or may not be apparitions ; we 
know that there have undoubtedly been such 
things, and that there still are, upon parti- 
cular occasions ; but that almost all the stories 
of ghosts and spirits, are grounded on no 

other 



The Common People. 103 

other bottom, than the fears, and fancies, and 
weak brains of men. 

In their account of the apparition of the 
devil, they always describe him with a cloven 
foot : That is always his distinguishing badge, 
whatever shape he appears in ; whether it be 
in beauty or deformity, he never appears with^ 
out it. Such is the old tradition they have 
receiv^ed of his appearing, and such is their be- 
lief of it. 

Indeed it must be confessed, that this is not 
so improbable and ridiculous as many things 
they hold. For though perhaps few of them 
have ought else for this opinion, but old wives 
fables, or the picture of the devil, which they 
have ahvaj^s observed drawn with a cloven foot, 
yet there seems to be some truth in it. For 
in the times of frequent apparitions, the devil 
was wont to appear so, if we ma}^ believe an- 
tiquity ; and there is also some reason for it, 
considering the circumstances of the fallen an- 
gels. 

The ^ author of the Vulgar Errors upon 
this same subject, hath these words. " The 
" ground of this opinion at first, might be 
" his frequent appearing in the shape of 
^' a goat, which answers this description. 
" This was the opinion of the ancient Chris- 

" tians 

* Brown's Vulg. Err. 
H4 



r^^ 



m 
m 



104 



The Antiquities of 



" tians, concerning the Apparitions of Pa- 
" nites, Fauns and Satyrs ; and of this form 
" we read of one, that appeared to Anthony in 
" the wilderness. The same is also confirmed 
" from Expositions of Holy Scripture. For 
" whereas it is said, Thou shalt not offer unto 
" devils : The original word is Seghnirim ; 
" that is, rough and hairy goats, because in 
" that shape the devil most often appeared, as 
" is expounded by the Rabbins, as Tre?nellius 
" hath also explained, and as the word Asci- 
" mah, the God o( E?nath, is by some conceiv- 
" ed. He observes also, That the goat was 
" the emblem of the sin-offering, and is the 
" emblem of sinful men at the day of judg- 
" ment." 

And of this opinion was also the learned 

Mr Mede *. He says, " That when spirits 

" converse with men, it is under some visible 

" shape, and that there is a law given them 

" that that shape they assumed, should be of 

" something which more or less resembled their 

" condition. For as in nature we see every 

*' thing hath a several and suitable physiog- 

" nomy or jigure, as a badge of their inward 

" nature, whereby it is known, as by a 

" habit of distinction, so it seems to be in 

" the shapes and apparitions of spirits. And 

'' as in a well governed common-wealth, e- 

" very 

* Mede, Dis. 40. 



The Common People. 105 

" very sort and condition is known by a dif- 
" ferent habit, agreeable to his quaUty ; so it 
" seems it should be in God's great common- 
'^ wealth, concerning the shapes which spi- 
" rits take upon them. And he that gave the 
" law, that a man should not wear the 
" habit of a w^oman, nor a woman the ha- 
" bit of a man, because that as he had made 
" them diverse, so would he have them so 
" known by their habits ; so it seems he will 
^' not suffer a good and a bad spirit, a noble 
" and ignoble one, to appear unto man after 
" the same fashion. 

" Now from this it will follow, that good 
" angels can take upon them no other shape, 
" but the shape of man, because their glori- 
" ous excellency is resembled only in the 
" most excellent of all visible creatures. The 
" shape of an inferior creature would be un- 
^' suitable, no other shape becoming those 
" who are called the Sons of GOD, but his 
" only, who was created after GOD's ozon 
" image. And yet, not his neither as he now 
" is, but according as he was before his fall 
" in his glorious beauty of his integrity. 
" Age and deformity are the fruits of sin ; 
" and the angel in the Gospel appears like a 
" young man, His * countenance like light- 
" ning, and his raiment white as snow, as it 

were 

* Matth. xxviii. 



fi ' 



m 






106 The Antiquities of 

" were resembling the beauty of glorified bo- 
" dies, in immutability, sublimity and purity. 

" Hence also it follows on the contrary, that 
" the devil could not appear in human shape 
" whilst man was in his integrity ; because he 
" was a spirit fallen from his first glorious per- 
" fection, and therefore must appear in such 
" shape, which might argue his imperfection 
" and abasement, which was the shape of a 
" beast ; otherwise no reason can be given, 
" why he should not rather have appeared to 
" Eve in the shape of a woman, than of a ser- 
" pent ; for so he might have gained an opi- 
" nion with her, both of more excellency and 
" knowledge. But since the fall of man, the 
" case is altered ; now we know he can take 
" upon him the shape of man ; and no won- 
" der, since one fallen star may resemble 
" another. And therefore he appears, it seems, 
*' in the shape of man's imperfections, either 
*' for age or deformity, as like an old man 
*^ (for so the witches say :) and perhaps it is 
" not altogether false, which is vulgarly aflSrm- 
" ed, that the devil appearing in human 
" shape, hath always a deformity of some un- 
" couth member or other ; as though he could 
" not yet take upon him human shape entire- 
" ly, for that man himself, is not entirely and 

^' utterly fallen as he is/' 

Thus 



The Common People. 107 

Thus far hath this great and learned man 
given his opinion of this matter, and that with 
>such strength of reason and argument, as 
leaves at least a probability behind it, of the 
truth of this opinion. 

Another part of this conversation generally 
turns upon Fairies. These, they tell you, 
have frequently been heard and seen ; nay, that 
there are some still living who were stolen a* 
way by them, and confined seven years. Ac- 
cording to the description they give of them, 
who pretend to have seen them, they are in 
the shape of men, exceeding little : they are 
always clad in green, and frequent the woods 
and fields ; when they make cakes (which is a 
work they have been often heard at) they are 
very noisy ; and when they have done, they 
are full of mirth and pastime. But generally 
they dance in inoon-light when mortals are a- 
sleep, and not capable of seeing them, as may 
be observed on the following morn ; their dan- 
cing-places being very distinguishable. For as 
they dance hand in hand, and so tnake a cir- 
cle in their dance, so next day there will be 
seen rings and circles on the grass. 

Now in all this there is really nothing, but 
an old fabulous story, which has been handed 
down even to our days from the times of 
Heathenism^ of a certain sort of beings called 

LamicE, 






108 The Antiquities of 

Lamice, which were esteemed so mischievous 
and cruel, as to take away young children and 
slay them. These, together with the Fauns^ 
the gods of the woods, seem to have formed 
the notion of Fairies. 

This opinion in the benighted ages of pope- 
ry, when Hobgoblins and Sprights were in e- 
very city, and town, and village, by every wa- 
ter, and in every wood, was very common. But 
when that cloud was dispelled, and the day 
sprung up, those spirits which wandered in the 
night of ignorance and error, did really vanish 
at the dawn of truth, and the light of know- 
ledge. 

Another tradition they hold, and which is 
often talked of, is, that there are particular 
places allotted to spirits to walk in. Thence 
it was that formerly, such frequent reports 
were abroad of this and that particular place 
being haunted by a spirit, and that the com- 
mon people say now and then, such a place is 
dangerous to be passed through at night, be- 
cause a spirit walks there. Nay, they will fur- 
ther tell you, that some spirits have lamented 
the hardness of their condition, in being ob- 
liged to walk in cold and uncomfortable pla- 
ces, and have therefore desired the person who 
was so hardy as to speak to them, to gift them 
with a warmer walk, by some Mell grown 

hedge, 



The Common People. 109 

hedge^ or in some shady vale^ where they 
might be sheltered from the rain and wind. 

The stories, that apparitions have been seen 
oftener than once in the same place, have no 
doubt been the rise and spring of the walking 
places of spirits ; but why they are said some- 
times to cry out for places that are more com- 
fortable, is not so certainly known. It is how- 
ever highly probable, that when the ignorance 
and superstition of the Romish church, had 
filled the world with apparitions and ghosts^ 
that this also was invented among them. For 
they seem to have the most right to an inven- 
tion of this nature, whose brains were so fruitful 
of folly, as to invent that * Dunstan took the 
devil by the nose, with a pair of hot tongs, till 
he roared again. For if the devil may be 
burnt, he may also be starved ; if he took such 
pains to get his nose out of the pincers, with- 
out doubt in a frosty night, he would wish to 
be as warm as possible. He that believes the 
one, must necessarily believe the other. And 
therefore it very near amounts to a demonstra- 
tion, who were the authors of this opinion, viz. 
the Monks. We are sure they invented the 
one, and need little question but they invented 
the other. 

There is a story in the book of Tohit, (which 
they may believe that will) of the evil spirits 

flying 

* Fuller's Ch. Hist. Cen, 10. 



ml 



i 



110 The Antiquities of 



flying into the utmost parts of Egypt, * For 
as Tobias went in unto his wife, he remember^ 
ed the words of Raphael, and took the ashes 
of the perfumes, and put the heart and liver 
of the fish thereupon, and made a smoke 
therewith. The which smell, when the evil 
spirit had smelted, he fed into the utmost 
parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him. 
\ Now from this it is evident, that the spirit 

was obhged to forsake his good old quarters 
and warm lodgings, for inhospitable deserts 
and open air : and from this, perhaps, some of 
those doting monks have persuaded themselves 
into a belief of these things. 

When it is proved to us, that this book of 
Tohit is the word of God, we may entertain 
more veneration for this vulgar opinion ; but 
till then, we must be indulged in wondering, 
how a spirit, that is an immaterial substance^ 
can be affected with our heat or cold, or any 
power or quality of material beings. 

The last topic of this conversation I shall 
take notice of, shall be the tales of haunted 
houses. And indeed it is not to be wondered 
at, that this is never omitted. For formerly 
almost every place had a house of this kind. 
If a house w^as seated on some melancholy 
place, or built in some old romantic manner ; 
or if any particular accident had happened in 

it, 

* Tob, vi. 



The Common People. Ill 

it, such as murder, sudden death, or the hke, 
to be sure, that house had a mark set on it, 
and was afterwards esteemed the habitation of 
a ghost. In talking upon this point, they ge- 
nerally shew the occasion of the houses being 
haunted^ the merry pranks of the spirit, and 
how it was laid. Stories of this kind are infi- 
nite, and there are few villages which have not 
either had such a house in it, or near it. 

And indeed there are men of good learn- 
ing and knowledge, who are as far as others 
from superstition, who are inclinable to be- 
lieve, that such things have been upon parti- 
cular emergencies ; though, among the stories 
that are told, they believe not one in a thou- 
sand. They know that spirits have frequent- 
ly appeared to men out of houses, and they 
can see no reason why they may not have ap- 
peared in them : They know nothing in an 
house more than in another place, to prevent 
an apparition, but an equal help to its visi- 
bihty. The air, which a ghost is supposed 
to be wrapped in, when it becomes visible to 
men, is there to be found, and they know of 
nothing else that may be an argument against 
it. An author of good credit tells us, * That 

when 

* Cum Romce aegra valetudine oppressus forem, jaceremque 
in lectulo, speciem mulierls eleganti forma mihi plane vigilantii ob- 
servatam fuisse, quam cum inspicerem, diu cogitabundus, &c. — 
Cum meos sensus vigere, & figuram illara nusquam a me dilabi, 
&c. Alex, ab Alex, Lib, 2. C. 9. 




112 The Antiquities of 

when he was at Rome, he was taken with ill- 
ness, and obliged to keep his bed : As he lay 
in this condition, he observed, as he was once 
awake, a woman of a very beautiful person 
coming towards him. Upon this he was silent 
for some time, and very thoughtful, weigh- 
ing all the while with himself, whether it was 
not rather a deceptio visus than a real being. 
But when he perceived his senses sound and 
intire, and that the object still continued ; 
he asked, What she was ? In answer to which, 
she repeated the very words he had spoken to 
her, in a sneering and disdainful manner. 
After she had taken a good view of him, she 
departed. 

The commentator, upon this place, * say,s 
He looks upon this story, and the rest which 
are mentioned along with it, to be nothing but 
dreams and fancies. And for ought that I 
know to the contrary, they may be so ; but 
howe\'er it must be confessed, this story in par- 
ticular is well attested, being told by the man 
himself, who was a great and a learned man, 
and who, if we may believe himself, seems to 
be as sure that he had his eyes open, as the 
commentator can be of the contrary. 

But Avhatever truth there may be in it, it 
is certain that in the church of Rome they 
are persuaded of the truth of it, to a fault. 

For 

* Sed hsec semper mera somnia esse" putava, j'hW, 



The Common People. 113 

For they are so sure of it, that they have par- 
ticular forms of exorcising such houses ; which 
because they have often been heard of, but sel- 
dom seen ; and are those very things which 
raised, in the vulgar formerly, such an opinion 
of their ignorant priests, as to make them be 
esteemed men of the greatest faith and learn- 
ing ; and because also the opinion has reached 
even our days, and it is common for the pre- 
sent vulgar to say, none can lay a spirit but a 
Popish priest ; it shall be the business of the 
next chapter, to give one of those forms of e^- 
orcising an house ; not that they are envied 
for their art of conjuring^ but that it may be 
seen, how well they deserve the character they 
go under. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER X. 

OF such a winter-evening's confabulation as 
our author speaks of, Dr Akenside (the boast 
of our Newcastle *) has left us a fine poetical de- 

I scription 

* Dr Akenside was born at 'Newcastle-upon-Tyne^ and received 
the first principles of his education at the very respectable gram- 
fnar school there •, his father a reputable butcher of the town. A 

halt 



If ; 

|:':i 114 Observations on 

tl scription in his Pleasures of Imagination^ a perfof- 

r mance, the greatest part of which is said to have 

been written on the banks of the Ti/ne^ where per- 
haps 

halt in his gait, occasioned when a boy, by the falling of a cleaver 
from his father'' s stall^ must have been a perpetual remembrancer 
of his humble origin. I mention this, because, from the biogra- 
phical account of him prefixed to the posthumous edition of his 
works, (an outline with which he himself must have furnished his 
friends) one is inclined to believe that he was ashamed of his hirth, 
—We regret, on perusing it, the omission of those pleasing and 
interesting little anecdotes usually given of the first indications of 
genius. — His townsmen have many other reasons that lead to the 
confirmation of this suspicion. — Taking this for granted, it was a 
great and unpardonable foible in one of so exalted an understand- 
ing. False shame was perhaps never more strongly exemplified. 
The learned world will forgive me for attempting in this note to 
defeat his very narrow purpose^ (for I can call by no softer name) 
the wishing to conceal from posterity a circumstance, that would by 
no means have lessened his fame with them. I flatter myself it is 
compatible with the respect we owe to the dead^ and even to the 
memory of him^ who on other accounts deserved so highly of his 
country. 

The distinction of family is honourable : It is the transmitted 
inheritance oi great deserts. But let it be remembered, that self- 
creation by personal merit is the pure fountain, of which that is 
too often no more than the polluted stream. Accidents must al- 
ways be light, when put in the scales against qualities ; and they 
who pique themselves on the possession of zfew links, of what is at 
best but a broken chain, must have the " Stemmata quid faciunt P^ 
of Juvenal suggested to them, and be told, that the utmost kings 
can do is to confer titles, they cannot make men deserve them ! 

The propriety of this reasoning can only be felt by philosophi- 
cal spirits : the world {jiviselij, on its own account) reprobates such 
doctrine : yet while others are boasting with the Roman governor 
of old, that with large sums they obtained this freedom, let those 
in the same predicament with our poet, conscious of having been 
honoured by the GOOD BEING with the first distinctions of 
nature, the rare gifts of genius and of the understanding, which they 
have not abused, call to mind, in supporting themselves against the 
envy of the great vulgar and of the small, a consideration, which is 
of the strictest philosophical truth, THE AKENSIDES arr 
FREE BORN I 



Chapter X, 



115 



haps nothing was ever produced before of true 
classical inspiration. 

He is speaking of the restless curiosity of the 
human mind — the desire of objects new and 
strange : 

Hence (he proceeds) by niglit 
The milage matron^ round the blazing hearth, 
Suspends the infant audience with her tales, 
Breathing astonishment ! Of witching rhymes, 
And evil spirits : Of the death-hed call 
To him who robb'd the widow, and devour'd 
The orphan's portion : Of unquiet souls 
Ris'n from the grave to ease the heavy guilt 
Oi deeds m. life conceal"* d : Of shapes th2.t walk 
At dead of night, and clank their chains and wave 
The torch of hell around the murderer^ s bed. 
At. every solemn pause the crowd recoil. 
Gazing each other speechless, and congeaPd 
With shivering sighs \ till eager for the event, 
Around the beldame all erect they hang. 
Each trembling heart with grateful terrors quelPd ! 

Book I. 

Little can be added to what our author has ad- 
vanced concerning the popular notions of the de- 
viL — Old Nick is the vulgar name of this evil being 
in the north, and is of great antiquity. There is 
a great deal of learning concerning it in Olaus 
Wormius' Danish Monuments. We borrowed it 
from the title of an evil geniits among the ancient 
Danes, They say he has often appeared on the 
sea and on deep rivers in the shape of a sea mon- 
ster^ presaging immediate shipwreck and drown- 
ing to seamen. See Lye's Junii Etymolog. in 
verbo, Nick, — 'I have' heard also the name of Old 
Harry on the same occasion ; perhaps from the 
verb, to harrie^ to lay waste, destroy, &c. 

2 To 






I-I6 Observations on 

To the account of fairies may be added that of 
the brownies, a kind of ghosts, of whom, says the 
Author of the Glossary to Douglas' Virgil, the 
ignorant common people and old wives in Scot- 
land tell many ridiculous stories, and represent to 
have been not only harmless, but useful — spirits 
possest of a servility of temper that made them, 
provided they were civilly used, submit to do the 
meanest offices of drudgery. They are now ex- 
tinct as well as the Jairies, — It was supposed that 
from their hard labour and mean employment, 
they became of a swarthy or tawny colour; whence 
their name of bi^oumies *, as the other, who moved 
in a higher sphere, are called fairies, from theiir 
fairness t. 

Perhaps: 

* Dr Johnson, in his Journey to the Western Islands, observes, 
" that of brownij^ mentioned by Martin, nothing has been heard 
** for many years. Browmj was a stxiidy fain/, who if he was /ed 
** and kindly treated, would, as they said, do a great deal of work, 
** They now pay him no wagts, and are content to labour for them- 
" selves,''' p. J71. 

Junius gives the following etymon of hohgohlin : Casaubon, he 
says, derives goblin from the Greek K#b«A«f a kind of spirit that 
was supposed to lurk about houses. The hobgoblins were a specie* 
of thtm, so called, because their motion was fabled to have been 
effected not so much by walking as topping on one leg ! 

See Lye's Junii Etymolog. &c. 

Boggle-boe is said to be derived from the Welch bwgwly, to ter- 
rify, and boe, a frightful sound invented by nurses to intimidate 
their children into good behaviour, with the idea of some ?nonster 
about to take them away. Skinner seems- to fetch it from BucuIuSy 
i. e. bos boans ! 

See Lye's Junii Etymolog. in verbo, &c. Well has Etymology 
been called the eruditio ad libitum ! 

-^ The account of them by Moresin favours this etymology : ** Pa- 
" patus f savs he) credit albatas mu lie res, et id genus larvas, pueros 
** integroi auferre, aliosque sv^gerere monstruosos & debiles multis 
** partibus : aut ad bai.tisteriunj cum aliis commutarCy aut ad Tern- 
'''' pli IntroitumP Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 139. 

Thii 



Chapter X. 117 

Perhaps Mr Bourne's account of the origin of 
Jhiries may be controverted : they are rather of 
eastern than o^ Roman extraction, and are said to 
have been invented by the Persians and Arabs, 
whose religion and history abound with relations 
concerning them. They have assigned them a 
peculiar country to inhabit, and call it fairy land, 

A respectable old woman of our nation, Mr Lil- 
ly, in his Life and Times^ tells us, " Fairies love 
*' the southern side of hills ^ mountains^ groves — 
*' neatness and cleanness of apparel, a strict diet^ an 
" upright life, fervent prayers unto God, conduce 
*' much to the assistance of those who are curious 
*' these ways" (!!) He means, it should seem, those 
who wish to cultivate an acquaintance with them. 

Chaucer, who was born in a much darker age, 
saw clearer into this matter : he is very facetious 
concerning them in his Canterbury tales : he puts 
his creed oi fairy mythology into the mouth of his 
*wfe of Bath, thus : 

In the old dayes of the King Artour, 
All was this lend fulfilled of fayry. 
The * Elf-^ene with her jolie company, f 

I 3 Daunsed 

This note illustrates Mr Bourne's account of persons who were 
stolen away by the fairies, and confined seven years.— Thus also 
Mr Pennant tells us, that the notion or belief of fairies still pre- 
vails in the Highlands of Scotland, and children are watched till 
the christening is over, lest they should be stolen or changed. 

Tour in Scotland, p. 94. 
* The stone arrow heads of the old inhabitants of this island 
(that are sometimes found) are vulgarly supposed to be weapons 
shot by fairies at cattle. They are called elfe-shots. To these 
are attributed any of the disorders tjie cattle have. — In order to 
eifect a cure, the cow is to be touched by an elfc-shot, or made to 
drink the water, in which one has been dipped. 

See Pennant's Tour, 
f Some ascribe that phsenomenon of the circle or ring, supposed 
by the vulgar to be traced by the fairies in their dances, to the ef- 

fecj^ 



118 Observations on 

Daunsed full oft in many a grene mede ^, 
This was the old opinion as I rede. 
I speke of many hundred yere agoe. 
But now can no man se no elfes mo. 
For now the grete charite and prayers 
Of limitours and other holyyr^r^j-, 
That searchen every lond and every streme. 
As thik as motes in the sunne heme. 

This maketh, that there ben now no fairesy 
For there as wont to walken was an elfe. 
There walketh now the Umitour himself. 
And as he goeth in his limitacioune, 
Wymen may now go safely up and downe, 
T^ere nis none other Incubus hut he f : &c. 



From 



fects of lightnings as being frequently produced after storms of that 
kind, and by the colour and brittleness of the grass roots when first 
observed. — Others maintain that these circles are made by ants^ 
which are frequently found in great numbers in them. 

A pleasant mead, 

Where ^/nW often did their measures tread^ 
Which in the meadow made such circles green^ 
As if Avith garlands it had cro^vned been. 

Within one of these rounds was to be seen 
A hillock rise, where oft \he fairy-queen 
At twilight sat, and did command her elves 
To pinch those maids^ that had not swept their shelves : 
And further, if by maiden's oversight, 
Within doors water were not brought at night ; 
Or if they spread no table, set no bread. 
They should have nips from toe unto the head : 
And for the maid that had perjorm^d each thing. 
She in the water-pail hzde leave a ring. 

Browne's Britan. Pastorals, p. 41. 
See also Dr Percy's songs on th,e subject. Vol. III. Collect. Ballads. 

* Sive illic Lemurum populus sub nocte choreas 
Plauserit exiguas, viridesque attriverit lierbas. 

Mons. Catherinae, p. 9. 

■f- It were invidious not to favour my reader here with Dr Per- 
cy's account of fairies, in his observations on the old ballads on 
that subject. The reader auU observe (says he) that our simple 
ancestors had reduced all these whimsies to a kind of system, as 

regular 



Chapter X. 



119 



From the subsequent passage in Shakespeare, 
t\\Q walking of spirits seems to have been enjoined 
by way of penance. The ghost speaks thus in Ham- 
let: 

" I am thy father's spirit, 
" Doom'd for a certain time to ivalk the nighty 
" And for the dayconfin'd to fast in Jires, 
" Till the fou/ crimes done in my days of nature 
** Are buj-nt and purg'd away.'''* 

Mr Gay, in imitation of the stile of our old 
Ennius, gives us a fine description of one of these 
haunted houses.'^ 

" Now there spreaden a rumour that everich night 
*•' The rooms ihaunted been by many a sprite^ 
" The miller avoucheth, and all thereabout, 
*' That they full oft hearen the hellish rout 5 
" Some saine they hear the gingling of chains, 
*' And some hath hearde the psautrie'^s straities, 
** At midnight some the heedless horse imeet, 
*' And some espien a coi^se in a white sheet *, 

I 4 " And 

regular and perhaps more consistent than many parts of classic my- 
thology : A proof of the extensive influence and vast antiquity xjf 
these superstitions. IVIankind, and especially the common people, 
could not every where have been so unanimously agreed concern- 
ing these arbitrary notions, if they had not prevailed among them 
for many ages. Indeed (he farther observes) a learned friend in 
Vv^ales assures tlic Editor, that the existence oi fairies and goblins 
is alluded to by the most ancient British bards, who mention them 
under various names, one of the most common of which signifies 
*' the spirits of the mountains^'* 

The common people of Northumberland call a certain fungous 
excrescence, that is sometimes found about the roots of old trees, 
fairy butter. I conjecture, that ivhen a quantity of rain falls, it 
reduces it to a consistency, ^Vhich, together with its colour, makes 
it not unlike butter : hence the name. 

I have met with a man who said he had seen one that had seen 
fairies. — Truth is hard to come at in most cases j none, I believe, 
ever came nearer to it in this, than I have done ! 

* The learned- Moresin traces thus to its origin the popish s ■- 
perstition, relative to the coming again, as it is commonly called. 






120 Observations on 

" And oother things, fayc, elfin and elfe, 
** And shapes t}i3.tjear ere at en to itself.'*'' 

I vsubjoin here some parts of a finely-written 
Conversation between the servants in Mr Addi- 
son's comedy of the Drummer, or the Haunted 
House. It will be thought much to our purpose. 

Gardiner, I marvel, John, how he (the spirit) 
get"^ into the house when all the gates are shut. 

Butler, Why, look ye, Peter, your spirit will 
creep you into an augre-hole ; — he'll whisk ye 
through a key hole, without so much as justling 
against one of the wards. 

Coachman, I believe I saw him last night in the 
Town Close. 

Gnrd, Ay! how did he appear? 

Coach, Like a white horse. 

But, Pho, Robin, I tell ye he has never ap^ 
pe^i'O'i yet but in the shape of the soimd of a drum. 

Coach, This makes one almost «/mf/of one'sown 

shadou\ 

pr walking of spirits : Animarum ad nos regressus ita est ex Ma- 

nilio, li.:. J. astron. cap. 7. de lacteo circulo. 

An niaior der.sa stellarum turba corona, 

Contexit flaninias & crasso lumine candet, 

Et fulgore nitet c«)llato clarior orbis. 

An fortes animae, dignataque ncmina coelo 

Corporibus resoluta suis, terrseque remissa. 

Hue migrant ex orbe, suumque habitantia coelum : 

itthereos vivunt annos, mundoque fruuntur. 

Lege Palingenesiam Pythagoricam apud Ovid, in Metam. et est 
observatum Fabli. Pont. max. discip^ina, ut atro die iranibus paren- 
tare non liceiet, ne infesti manes fierent. Alex, ab Alex. lib. 
5. cap. 26. 

Hcec cum legerent Papani &. his alia apud alios similia, volue- 
runt et suorum defunctorum animas ad eos reverti & nunc certio- 
res faccre rerum earum, quse turn in Coelis, turn apud inferos ge- 
runtur, nunc autem t err ere domes ticos in sen is artilus • &c. 

Deprav. Relig. Orig. p. 11. 



Chapter X. 



121 



sliadom. As I was walking from the stable t'other 
night, without my lanthorn, I fell across a beam, 
.—and thought I had stumbled over a spirit. 

But, Thou might'st as well have stumbled over 
a straw. Why a spirit is such a little^ little thing, 
that I have heard a man, who was a great sckolar^ 
say, that he'll dance ye a Lancashire hornpipe 
upon the point of a needle. — As I sat in the pan- 
try last night, the candle methought burnt blue, 
and the spay'd bitch look'd as if she saw something. 

Gard, Ay, I warrant ye, she hears him many a 
time, and often when we don't," 

Thus also in another Scene : 



cc 



Gard, Pr'ythee, John, what sort of a creature 
is a conjurer ? 

But. Why he's made much as other men are, if 
it was not for his long grey beard, — His beard is 
at least half a yard long, he's dressed in a strange 
dark clolie, as black as a coal : — He has a long 
white wand in his hand. 

Coach, I fancy it is made out oi witch elm, 

Gard, I warrant you if the ghost appears, he'll 
whisk ye that wand before bis eyes, and strike 
you the drumstick out of his hand. 

But, No ; the wand, look ye, is to make a cir-^ 
cle, and if he once gets the ghost in a circle, then 
he has him, — A circle, you must know, is a con- 
jurer^s trap. 

Coach, But what will he do with him, when he 
has him there ? 

But, Why then he'll overpower him with his 
learning, 

Gm^d, 



m 



122 Observations^ &c. 

Gard. If he can once compass him and get him 
in Lob's-poundy he'll make nothing of him, but 
speak a few hard words to him, and perhaps bind 
him over to his good behaviour for a thousand years* 

Coach. Ay, ay, he'll send him packing to his 
grave again with a flea in his ear, I warrant him. 

But, If the conjurer be but well paid^ he'll take 
pains upon the ghost, and lay him, look ye, in the 
Red Sea^ and then he's laid for ever. 

Gard, Why, John, there must be a power of spi- 
rits in that same Red Sea. — I warrant ye they are 
as plenty as fish. — I wish the spirit may not carry 
a corner of the Iwtise off with him. 

But. As for that, Peter, you may be sure that 
the steward has made his bargain with the cun- 
ning man beforehand, that he shall sta7id to all costs 
and da7nages." 

The above is a pleasant comment on the popular 
creed concerning spirits and haujited houses. 

I am pleased with Mr Bourne's zeal for the ho- 
nour of his Protestant brethren, at the conclusion 
of this chapter. — The vulgar (he says) think them 
no C07ijurers, and say none can lay a spiiit but Po- 
pish priests — he wishes to imdeceive them, however, 
and to prove at least negatively that our own clergy 
know fldl as much of the black art as the others 
do. 

Here follows the tedious process for the ej:pul- 
sion of DcemanSy who, it should seem, have not 
been easily Jerre ted out of their quarters, if one may 
judge of ^leir unwiUingness to depart, by the pro- 
lixity of the subsequent removal warrant, which I 
suppose the Romish clerical bailiffs were npt at the 
trouble of serving for nothing I 

CHAP. 



The Antiquities^ &c. 123 

CHAP. XL 
TOST EXERCITATIO SEPTIMA, 

F. VALERII POLIDORI PATAVINI. 

Quce brdo dicitur Domum a Dcemone perturha- 
tarn liberandi. 

The FORM of Exorcising an Haunted HOUSE. 

'T^HE * house which is reported to be vexed 

with spirits, shall he visited by the priest 

once every day, for a whole week together : 

and day after day he shall proceed as follows . 

The Office for Monday. 

f^N Monday, when the priest comes to the 
gate of the house, let him stand near it, 
whilst it continues shut, and say, 

V, O God t make i^peed to save me. 

R, O Lord make haste to help me. 

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Ghost. 

R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and 
ever sh^-ll be, world without end. Amen. 

Psalm 

* Domus quae dicitur a daemonibus vexari, singulis unius heb- 
domadae, &c. 
f PsaL Ixx. 



if:i 



m 



124 The Antiquities of 

Psalm xxiv. 

THF * earth is the Lord's and all that 
therein is, the compass of the world and 
they ihc^t dwell therein. For he hath founded 
it upon the seas. Who shall ascend into the 
hill of the Lord ? Or who shall stand up in 
his holy place ? Even he that hath clean hands 
and a pure heart, who hath not lift up his mind 
to vanity, nor sworn to deceive his neighbour. 
He shall receive the blessing from the LoivD, 
and righteousness from the God of his salva- 
tion. This is the generation of them that seek 
him, even of them that seek thy face, O Jacob. 
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be lift up 
ye everlastmg doors, and the King of glory 
shall come in. Who is the King of glory .^ It 
is the Lord strong and mighty, even the 
Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, 
O ye gates, and be ye liit up, ye everlasting 
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. 
Who is the King of glory ? Even the Lord 
of hosts he is the King of glory. 

Glory be to the Father, &c. 

F. I will enter into thy house. 

JR. And in thy fear will I worship toward 

thy holy temple. 

The 

* Psalm xxivb 



The Common People, 



125 



The PRAYER. 

* /^ Almighty and everlasting GOD, who 
^^ hast given unto us thy servants grace, 
by the confession of a true faith, to acknow- 
ledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in 
the power of the Divine Majesty to worship 
the Unity ; we beseech thee, that thou wouldst 
keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore de- 
fend us from all adversities through CHIRST 
our LORD. And humbly we beseech thee, 
that as thou wast willing thy gates should be 
opened, and thy house cleansed, by thedabours 
of thy holy priests and Levites^ follow! ag the 
advice of king Hezekiah ; so we humbly be- 
seech thee, that by our ministry, thou wouldst be 
pleased' to deliver this house from the pertur- 
bations of devils. By the same our Lord Je- 
sus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth 
with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God 
for ever and ever. Amen. 



The Office on Tuesday, 

/^AT Tuesday, the same things are observed., 
^^ and in the same way and manner as on 
Monday ; the versicle oj the prayer^ and the 

prayer 

* The Collect for Trinity Sunday, 






flfflp 



126 The Antiquities of 

prayer itself excepted. When the priest comes 
to the end of the last versicle, viz. As it was in 
the beginning, ^^c. Of the Psalm, The earth 
is the Lord's, &:c. Then the gate shall be 
Opened, and he shall stand on the threshold^ 
and say. 

The LESSON, 1 Sam. chap. v. 

AND the Philistines took the ark of God, 
and brought it from Ebeii-ezer unto 
Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark 
of God, they brought it into the house of Da- 
gon, and set it by Dagon. And when they of 
Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, 
Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth, 
before the ark of the Lord ; and they took 
Dagon, and set him in his place again. And 
when they arose early on the morrow morning, 
behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the 
ground, before the ark of the Lord : And the 
head of Dagon, and both the palms of his 
hands, were cut off upon the threshold, only 
the stump of Dagon was left to him. There- 
fore, neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that 
come into Dagon s house, tread on the thresh- 
old of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. 

V. Let God be my Helper, and the House 
of my Refuge. 

H. That I may be in safety. 

The 



The Common People. 12? 

The PRAYER. 

* /^ GOD, who hast ordained and consti- 
V-^ tuted the services of angels and men 
in a wonderful order ; mercifully grant, that as 
thy angels always do thee service in heaven, so 
they may succour and defend us on earth, 
through Christ our Lord. And be thou 
also mercifully present, that as Solomon began 
to build a house, for the use of thy majesty, on 
mount Moria^ the place which was shewn to 
his father David, so by the operation of thy 
holy angels, this house may be freed from the 
evil spirit, and be a quiet habitation for men. 
By the same our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 

The Office on Wednesday. 

ON Wednesday, all things which are order^ 
edfor Monday and Tuesday, being ob- 
served in the same manner, except the versicles 
of the prayer and the prayer for Tuesday : 
He shall stand in the entry of the house, and 
say. 

The LESSON. From the History of Bel and 
the Dragon, Verse 10. 



A 



ND the king went with Daniel into the 
Temple of Bel ; so Bets Priests, said, 

Lo, 

. * The Collect for St Michael's Day. 




128 The Antiquities of 

Lo, we go out. But thou, O king, set on 
the meat, and make ready the wine, and shut 
the door fast, and seal it with thine own sig- 
j I net. And to-morrow when thou comest in, 

' if thou findest not that Bel hath eaten up all, 

we will suffer death, or else Daniel that speak- 
eth agamst us. And they little regarded it : 
For under the table they had made a privy 
entrance, whereby they entered in continual- 
ly, and consumed those things. So when 
they were gone forth, the king set meats be- 
fore BeL Now Daniel had commanded his 
servants to bring ashes, and those they strew- 
ed throu2;hout all the temple, in the pre- 
sence of the king alone : Then went they 
out and shut the door, and sealed it with 
the king's signet, and so departed. Now in 
the night came the priests, with their wives 
and children, as they were wont to do, and 
did eat and drink up all. In the morning 
betime the king arose, and Daniel with him. 
And the king said, Daniel^ are the seals 
whole ? And Daniel said. Yea, O king, they 
be whole. And as soon as he had opened the 
door, the king looked upon the table, and 
cried with a loud voice. Great art thou, O 
JBe/, and with thee there is no deceit at all. 
Then Daniel laughed, and told the king that 
he should not go m, and said. Behold now 
the pavement, and mark well whose footsteps 

are 



The Common People. 



12^ 



are these. And the kinjr said, I see the foot- 
steps of men, women and children. And then 
the king was angry, and took the priests with 
their wives and children, who shewed him the 
privy doors where they came in and consumed 
such things as were upon the table. Therefore 
the king slew them, and delivered Bel into 
Daniel's power, who destroyed him and his 
temple. 

V. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. 
R, They will be always praising thee. 

The PRAYER. 

/^ GOD, by whose right hand the holy 
^^ Peter was lifted up that he perished not 
in the waters, and his fellow apostle Paul 
was thrice delivered from shipwreck and the 
depth of the sea, mercifully hear us, and 
grant, that by both their merits, we may ob- 
tain thy eternal glory ; who livest and reign- 
est with God the Father, in the unity of 
the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. And 
we beseech thee mercifully to look upon this 
hause, which we know to be infested with the 
devil ; that as in Jerusalem^ when the temple 
was finished, and Solomon had ended his pray- 
er, thy glory filled thy house before the 
children of Israel; so grant that this house 
may be cleansed before us, by our ministry^ 

K and 



m 



150 The Antiquities of 

and that thou wouldest appear in it and in 
us, in glory. By thee the same our I^ord 
Jesus Christ, who with the same Father 
and Holy Spirit, livest and reignest for ever. 
Amen. 



The Office on Thursday, 

ON Thursday, when those things are re- 
tained which are to be retained, as may 
he seen on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 
and also the versicles and the prayer ©/Wed- 
nesday omitted, he shall visit the middle part 
of the house, and say, 

The LESSON. Job, chap. xl. 

THE LORD said unto Job, Behold, 
how Behemoth which I made with thee, 
he eateth grass as an ox. Lo, now his 
strength is in his loins, and his force is in 
the navel of his belly. He moveth his t^l 
like a cedar ; the sinews of his stones are 
wrapt together. His bones are as strong as 
pieces of brass, his bones are like bars of 
iron. He is the chief of the ways of God. 
He that n)ade him can make his sword to ap- 
proach with him. Surely the mountains bring 
him forth food, where all the beasts of the 
field play. He lieth under the shady trees, 

in 



The Common People, 



131 



in the covert of the reed, and fens. The 
shady trees cover him with their shadow ; 
the willows of the brook compass him about. 
Behold he drinketh up a river, and hastetll 
not ; he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan 
into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes ; 
his nose pierceth through snares. * Canst 
thou draw out Leviathan with a hook ? Or his 
tongue with a cord which thou lettest down ? 
Canst thou put a hook in his nose ? Or bore 
his jaw through with a thorn? Will he 
make any supplications unto thee ? Will he 
speak soft words unto thee ? Will he make a 
covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him 
for a servant for ever ? Wilt thou play with 
him as with a bird ? Or wilt thou bmd him 
for thy maidens ^ Shall the companion make a 
banquet for him ? Or shall they part among 
the merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with 
barbed irons? Or his head with fish spears ? 
Lay thine hand upon him, remember the bat- 
tle no more. Behold, the hope of him is in 
vain ; shall not one be cast down even at the 
sight of him ? 

V. Lord I have loved the glory of thy 
house. 

R. And the place where thine honour* dwell- 
eth. 

2 The 



ifi 



132 The Antiquities of 

The PRAYER. 

* /^ GOD, who didst teach- the hearts of 
V^ thy faithful people, by the sending to 
them the light of thy Holy Spirit, grant us by 
the same spirit to have a right judgment in all 
things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy 
comfort, through Christ our Lord. And 
grant unto us thy servants, that as thy house, 
whilst thou sittest in thy lofty throne, is re- 
plenished with the odour of thy glory, so by 
thy assistance, this house may be filled with 
thy grace, to repel all the works of the devil : 
By the same our Lord Jesus Christ thy 
Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the 
unity of the same Holy Spirit : God through- 
out all ages. Aineiu 



The Office on Friday, 

ON Friday, having observed all those things 
which are used on Monday, Tuesday, 
Wednesday, Thursday, and omitted others as 
is there shewn ; together with the versicles of 
the prayer^ and the prayer as on other 
days; let him go up and dozs??i the whole house 
and say 9 

The 

* Collect for Whitsunday. 



The Common People. 133 

The LESSON, S. Luke iv. 38. 

AND he arose out of the sjmagogue, and 
entered into Simons house, and Simons 
wife^s mother was taken with a great fever : 
And they besought him for her : And he stood 
over her, and rebuked the fever, and it left 
her. And immediately she arose and minis- 
tered unto them. Now when the sun was 
settmg, all they that had any sick with divers 
diseases, brought them unto him. And he 
laid his hands on every one of them, and heal- 
ed them. And devils also came out of many, 
crying out, and saying. Thou a^rt Christ the 
Son of God, And he rebukinf them, suffered 
them not to speak : For they ^ lew that he was 
Christ. 

V. I would rather be a door-keeper in the 
house of my God. 
R. Than to dwell in the tents of ungodUness. 

The PRAYER. 

OGOD, who by the precious blood of thy 
dear Son, has been pleased to sanctify 
the ensign of the enlivening cross, grant, we 
beseech thee, that thou wouldst be pleased to 
protect him, who is pleased with honouring 
thy holy cross : By the same Christ our 

Lord 



S41 The Antiquities of 

Lord. And we beseech thee to grant, that 
thou wouldst be present in this house in 
the same merciful manner, to overturn the 
frauds of the devil, as thou wast mercifully 
present with king Solomoti in the house which 
he built thee: By the same our Lord Jesu^ 
Christ thy Son, who livest and reignest with 
thee in unity of the Holy Ghost, God for 
ever and ever. Amen, 

The Office on Saturday. 

ON the Sabbath, all things being done 
which are ordered on Monday, Tues- 
day, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and 
other things omitted, as is shewn by notes in 
those places, together with the Versicles of 
the prayer, and the prayer itself, let him 
search through the whole house, and say. 

The LESSON. S. Mark iii. 11. 

AND unclean spirits when they saw him, 
fell down before him, and cried, saying. 
Thou art the Son of God. And he straitly 
charged them that they should not make him 
known. And he goeth up into a mountain, 
and calleth unto him whom he would : And 
they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, 
^hat they should be with him, and that he 

might 



The Common People, 135 

STiight send them forth to preach ; and to have 
power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils. 

V. The Sparrow hath found her an house. 
R, And the Turtle a nest where she may lay 
her young. 

The PRAYER. 

GRANT, O Lord God, unto us thy ser- 
vants, that we may enjoy perpetual 
peace of mind and soundness of body, and 
by the intercession of the glorious and blessed 
Mary^ always a virgin, be delivered from our 
present sorrow, and obtain thy everlasting 
joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And 
be thou so present with us thy humble ser- 
vants, that as when the priests came out of 
the tabernacle, the cloud of thy glory filled 
thy whole house ; so let thy grace illuminate 
this house to us that go into it, that it may 
be delivered from the workings of the devil, 
and be a dwelUng for men, replenished with 
all benediction, through the saine our Lord 
Jesus Christ thy Son, who livest and 
reignest with thee in the unity of the Holy 
Spirit, God, world without end. Amen, 

4 The 



Hi 



136 The Antiquities of 

The Office on Sunday. 

/^N Sunday, after the Priest has placed 
^^ himself in one of the largest and most 
sumptuous parts of the house^ he shall direct 
this exorcism to the demons that haunt it, say^ 
i?ig, 

I Exorcise you, O ye demons, who have 
thus boldly presumed to invade this habi- 
tation of men, and give such disquietude to its 
inhabitants, by the Tri-une God, zi'hose is the 
earthy and the fulness thereof the round 
worlds and they that dwell therein ; by our 
Lord Je.>.us Christ, who continuing what 
he was, made himself man, conceived by the 
Holy Ghost, and born of a virgin, and who 
for our sakes, when he had undergone many 
sufferings, underwent also the torment of the 
cruel cross, upon which he bowed his head, 
and gave up the ghost, that he might obtain 
for us, abundant grace in the present life, and 
in the world to come life everlasting. By all 
the grace acquired for us ; by the grace of 
faith conferred in baptism, of fortitude in con- 
firmation, of charity in the eucharist, of jus- 
tice in penance, of hope in extreme unction, 
of temperance in matrimony, and of prudence 
in holy orders, and by all holy men and w^o- 
men, the saints of God, ^vho now inherit 
eternal glory, and by all their merits ; that 

you 



The Common People. 137 

you remove this your presumptuous power 
from this house, and continue here no longer, 
nor any more vex its inhabitants. 

Then let him exorcise the whole house by say^ 

ing, 

I Exorcise this house, which was built for 
the use of human kind, by the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, the omnipotent God, w^ho 
built the house of the whole world for man, 
and put all things in it in subjection under 
his feet; and by Christ our Lord, who is 
the fountain of all grace, and the origin of all 
virtue ; by his unparalleled poverty, of which 
he truly said, The foxes have holes^ and the 
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of 
man hath not where to lay his head. By his 
meekness, he himself saying of it. Learn of 
me, for 1 am rneek and lowly in heart : By 
his weeping, when he beheld the city Jerusa- 
lem and wept over it, saying. If thou hadst 
knozmi : By the hunger and thirst of his righ- 
teousness, saying, My meat is to do the will of 
my Father which is in heaven : By his mercy, 
which excited him to say, / will have mercy 
and not sacrifice : By his purity of heart, of 
which he could say, Be ye holy, for I am ho- 
ly : By the peace which he always loved, as 
at the last he shew^ed, when he said, Peace I 
leave with you, my peace I give unto you ; 
And by that persecution which he suffered for 

righteousness 



if 



138 The Antiquities of 

righteousness sake, which he himself attests, 
laying, If they have persecuted me^ they will 
also persecute you : And by the holy apostles, 
and by the effusion of their blood, and by all 
holy men and holy women ; that thou mayest 
be blessed, and obtain from God above, such 
virtue by our ministry, that thou mayest be- 
come to the evil spirits a new hell, and a burn- 
ing furnace of eternal horror, so that they may 
flee from every corner; and leave thee entirely 
free, that thou mayest become a comfortable 
habitation for men, and that God may ever be 
glorifiedr 

After that, let him bless the house in the fol^ 
lowing manner, 

V. O Lord hear my prayer. 
R. And let my cry come unto thee. 
V, He hath blessed the house of Israel. 
R, He hath blessed the house of Aaron. 

* nPHOU, O Lord of all things, who hast 
J- need of nothing, w^ast pleased that the 
temple of thine habitation should be among 
us ; and therefore, now, O holy Lord of all 
holiness, keep this house ever undefiled, which 
lately was cleansed. And grant unto us the 
abundance of thy goodness, that this house 
may be blessed f and sanctified of thee -f by 

our 
* Mac. B. 2. C. 14. 



The Common People. 139 

<iur ministry, that the evil angels may abdi- 
cate it, and it may be a protection for the 
faithful, a pure habitation for the holy angels, 
and a possession always worthy of thy care, 
through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, 
who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity 
of the Holy Spirit, God, who shall come to 
judge the quick and the dead, and the world 
by fire. Amen. 

Then let the image of our SAVIOUR upon 
the cross, be erected in an open part of the 
principal room in the house ; and let the 
priest sprinkle the whole house with holy 
water, from top even to the bottom, saying. 

The LESSON. St Luke, chap. xix. 

AND Jesus entered and passed through Je- 
richo. And behold there was a man na- 
med Zaccheus, which was the chief among the 
Publicans, and he was rich, and he sought to 
see Jesus who he was, and he could not for 
tlie press, because he was little of stature. 
And he ran before, and climbed up into a sy- 
camore tree to see him, for he was to pass that 
way. And when Jesus came to the place, he 
looked up and saw him, and said unto him, 
Zaccheus make haste and come down, for to 
day 1 must abide at thy house. And he made 
):iaste and came down, and received him 

joyfully. 



iff 



140 The Antiquities of 

joyfully. And when they saw it, they all mur- 
mured, saying, That he was gone to be a guest 
with a man that is a sinner. And Zaccheiis 
stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, 
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the 
poor : and if I have taken any thing of any 
man, by false accusation, I restore him four- 
fold. And Jesus said unto him. This day is 
salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he 
also is the son of Abraham, For the Son of 
man is come to seek and to save that which 
was lost. 

When all these things are done, let Abyssum, 
which is a kind of an herb, be procured^ and 
after it is signed with the sign of the cross^ 
let it be hung up at the four corners of the 
house, 

I suppose the reason of proceeding after this 
manner day by day, is that the devil may be 
gradually banished : and to be sure, what is 
observed on the last of the days, viz. The or- 
dering of the crucifix^ the holy water, the g- 
byssum tied to the four corners of the house, 
is to keep the devil out when he is out. 

St Austin tells us a story of one * Hesperi- 
tiusy whose house was troubled with evil spi- 
rits, 

* Vir Hesperitius Ubi Domum suam 

spirituum malignoruni vim noxiam perpeti comperisset, roga- 

vit 



The Common People* 141 

rits, who came once, in his absence, to his 
Presbyters, and begged their assistance. Upon 
which one of them went along with him ; and 
when he had offered the sacrifice of the body 
of Christ, and prayed in a most fervent 
manner, the house, by the mercy of God, 
was no longer troubled. 

Here is indeed an account of a house being 
haunted, but not a word of any such order in 
the dispossessing it. The priest goes immedi- 
ately over the threshold into the troubled a- 
partment, and expels the spirits by his pray- 
ers. Had such forms been customary in the 
days of St Austin, had the crucifix^ holy wa- 
ter^ and abyssum, been used, no question but 
here, or somewhere else, we should have had 
some account of it : but these ages were unac- 
quainted with such whimsical forms of exorcis- 
ing ; and if the story be true, it was nothing 
but prayer that quieted the house. It is ridi- 
culous to suppose that the Prince of Darkness 
will yield to such feeble instruments as water, 
and herbs, and crucifixes. These weapons are 
not spiritual but carnal : whereas, in resisting 
this potent enemy, we must put on the whole 
armour of GOD, that we may be able to re- 

sist 

vit nostros, me absente, Presbjrteros, ut aliquls eorum illo perge- 
ret, cujus oratlonibus cederent j perrexit unus, obtullt ibi sacriii- 
clum corporis Christi, orans quantum potuit, ut cessaret ilia vexa- 
tio, Deo protinus miserante cessarit. Aug. de Civit, Dei, Lib, 
22. Cap, 8, 



if- 



142 Observations on 

sist him ; which is such a composition, as i.<* 
intirely free from the least allay or mixture of 
any such superstitions. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XL 

I Find little that may be added concerning the 
exorcising haunted houses, a species of the black 
art which is now almost forgotten in this king- 
dom. Perhaps thejarm is worth preserving as a 
curiosity, as we hang up rusty pieces of old ar- 
mour : a proof how much ado there may have 
been about nothing I (and yet it may be suppos- 
ed not altogether for nothing neither 1) 

St Chrysostom is said to have insulted some 
African cmjurers of old with this humiliating 
and singular observation : " Miserable and wo- 
" ful creatures that we are, we cannot so much 
*« as expel fleas, much less devils *." 

The 

* Obsession of the devil, is distinguished from possession in this : 
In possession, the Evil One was said to enter into the body of the 

man : In obsession, without entering into the body of the person, 

lie was thought to besiege and torment him without ; — to be lifted 
t/p into the air, and afterwards to be thrown down on the ground 
violently, without receiving any hurt i-^to speak strange lan- 
guages, that the person had never learned ; — not to be able to come 
near holy things, or the sacraments, but to have an aversion to 
them •, — to know and foretel secret things ; — to perform things 
that exceed the person's strength ; — to say or do things that the 
person would not or durst not say, if he were not externally moved 
to it, were the ancient marks and criterions of obsession. 

Cabnet in Bailey's Diet. 
The 



Chapter XI. 



143 



The learned Selden observes, on this occasion, 
that there was never a merry world since the fai- 
ries left dancing, and the parson left corijuring *. 
— The opinion of the latter kept thieves in awe, 
and did as much good in a country as a justice 
of peace. 

This facetious, and pointedly sensible writer 
enquires farther, " Why have we now none pos- 
*^ sest with devils in England ? The old answer is, 
*' The devil hath the Protestants already, and the 
" Papists are so holy he dares not meddle with 
« them*" 

Casting 

The old vulgar ceremonies used in raising the devil, such as 
making a circle with chalk, setting an old hat in the center of it, 
repeating the Lord''s Prayer backwards, &c. &c. are now altoge- 
ther obsolete, and seem to be forgotten even amongst our boys. — 
None will desire to see them revived amongst them, yet it were to 
be wished that many of these little gentry had not substituted the 
doing xKmgs really bad for this seemingly profane, but truly ridi- 
culous mode, or rather mockery of the ancient magical incanta- 
tion! 

* I subjoin a very pertinent quotation from the learned author 
of the origin and increase of depravity in religion. 

" Apud tum Poetas, tum Historiographos de magicis incanta- 
** tlonibus, Exorcismis et Curatione tum hominum quam bellua- 
" rum per Carmina haud pauca habentur, sed horum impietatem 
" omnium superat longe hac in re Papismus — Hie enim supra Dei 
" potest at em posse Carmina, posse Exorcismos affirmat — ita ut ni- 
" nil sit tam obstrusum in coelis, quod Exorcismis non pateat, ni- 
" hil tam abditam in inferno, quod non eruatur — Nihil in Ter- 
*' rarum silentio inclusum, quod non eliciatur — Nihil in hominum 
*' pectoribus roW//a/w, quod non reveletur — nihil ablatum, quod 
*' non restituatur, et nihil quod habet Orbis, sive insit, sive non, e 
" quo Damon non ejiciaturP Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 8, 

Pliny tells us, that houses were anciently hallowed against evil 
spirits with brimstone ! This charm has been converted by later 
times into what our satyrist, Churchill, in his prophecy of famine, 
calls " a precious and rare medicine,'''^ and is now used (but I sup- 
pose with greater success) in exorcising those of our unfortunate 
fellow creatures, who are haunted, or possessed, with a certain ^^ry 
spirit, said by the wits of the south to be well known, seen, and 
felt, and very troublesome in the north ! 



rm 



144 Observations, &c. 

Casting out devils (he adds) is mere juggling ; 
they never cast out any but what they first cast in. 
They do it where for reverence no man shall dare 
to examine it ; they do it in a comer, in a mor- 
tice-hole, not in the market-place. They do no- 
thing but what may be done by art ; they make 
the devil jiy out of the window in the likeness of 
a baty or a rat. Why do they not hold him ? 
Why in the likeness of a bat, or a rat, or some 
creature? that is, Why not in some shape we 
paint him in, with claws and hams ? answer may 
be made to his pertinent question, that real bats 
and rats may be procured — but every carver is 
not to be trusted with the making of a liomed or 
cloven-footed image of the devil. 

Impious and antichristian Rome ! * it is im- 
possible to say how much thou hast prejudiced 
the cause of ma7ily and rational religion by these, 
and the like thy childish (to give no harsher 
name to thy) fooleries and superstitions ! 

CHAP. 

* In an age when every wretched sophlster, drawing his conclu- 
sions from false premises^ wishes to confound the pure Spirit of 
Christian philosophy with these and the like adulterations of it, I 
must at least be pardoned for obtruding the subsequent eulogy^ ex- 
tracted from an old tragedy 5 — no professed divine has perhaps ever 
exhibited more forcibly the grandeur and utility of Christianity, than 
these few lines do : 

" If these are Christian virtues, I am Christian, 
" The faith that can inspire this generous change, 
" Must be divine — 2ind glows with all its God! 

" Friendship and constancy and right and pity, 
*' All these were lessons I had leam'd before, 
" But this unnatural grandeur of the soul 
" Is more than mortal, and outreaches ^^rtue j 
** It draws, it charms, it hinds me to be Christian /" 

HiU's Alzira. 



The Antiquities, S^c. l45 



CHAP. XII. 

Of Saturday afternoon ; how observed of old, 
by the ancient Christians, the church of 
Scotland, and the old church of England : 
What end we should observe it for : An ex- 
hortation to the observation oj it, 

IT is usual, in country places and villages, 
where the politeness of the age hath made 
no great conquest, to observe some particular* 
times with some ceremonies, which were cus^ 
tomary in the days of our fore-fathers : Such 
are the great festivals of Christmas, Easter, and 
several others, which they observe with rites 
and customs appropriated to them. 

Among these we find a great deference paid 
to Saturday afternoon, above the other worky 
days of the week • Then the labours of the 
plough cease, and refreshment and ease are 
over all the village. 

This seems to be the remains of a laudable 
custom once in this land (but now almost bu- 
ried in that general contempt of religion and 
love of the worlds w^hich prevail so much every 
Avhere) of attending the evening praj^ers on Sa- 
turday, and laying aside the concerns of this 
life, to be fitter for the duties of the day follow- 

L iilg. 



146 The Antiquities of 

ing. For * '* it was an holy custom among 
" our fore-fathers, when at the ringing to pray- 
" er the eve before the Sabbath^ the husband- 
" man would give over his labour in the field, 
" and the tradesman his work in the shop, and 
" go to evening prayer in the church, to pre- 
" pare their souls, that their minds might mor^ 
" chearfuUy attend GOD's worship on the 
" Sabbath day" 

And indeed it was the custom both of the 
Jewish and the Christian church. They nei- 
ther of them entered upon the Sabbath, without 
some preparation for it. Moses -f taught the 
Jews to remember the Sabbath over night ; 
from whence in all probability it comes to pass, 
that the eve of the Jewish Sabbath is called 
the preparation. The preparation mentioned 
by the evangelists, begun at three o'clock on 
Friday afternoon ; it was proclaimed with the 
noise of trumpets and horns, that they might 
be better put in mind of the Sabbath's draw- 
ing on, and of that preparation which was re- 
quisite for it. 

Among the primitive Christians the Lord's 
day was always ushered in with a pernoctation, 
or vigil. They assembled in the house of God, 
and sung psalms and praises to him a great part 

of 

* Bai7i/f Prac. Piety, P. 453. f Exod. xvi. Mark xir. 



The Common People. 



147 



of the night, that they might be better prepar- 
ed to serve him on his own day following. 

in the year of our Lord 1203, William 
king of Scotland * called a council of the chief 
men of his kingdom, at which also was present 
the pope's legate ; and it was then determined, 
that Saturday after the twelfth hour should be 
kept holy ; that no one should follow their bu- 
siness nor callings, but desist ds on other holy 
days : That they should be put in mind of it 
by the tolling of the bell, and then mind the 
business of religion as on holy days, be present 
at the sermon, and hear vespers ; that this 
should be the practice till Monday morning, 
and whoever acted otherwise should be severe- 
ly punished. 

And this, as is said before, w^as also the cus- 
tom of our own country, long before this order- 
ed in Scotland. For in the year 958, when 
king Edgar made his ecclesiastical laws, we 
find one made to this very purpose : In which 

L2 it 



* In Scotia anno salutis 1203. Gulielmus Rex prlmorum Reg- 
ni sui concilium cogit, cui etiara interfult Pontificlus Legatus, in 
quo dccretum est, ut Batumi Die|.abhora 12 Meridiei sacer esset, 
neque quisquam res profanas exerce'ret, quemadmodum aliis quoque 
festis diebus vetitum id erat. Idque'^campanae pulsu populo indica- 
retur, ac postea sacris rebus, ut diebus festis operam darint, concio- 
nibus interessent, vesperas audirent, idque in diem lunae facerent, 
cwnstituta transgressoribus gravi psena. Beet. Lib. 13. de Scot: e^ 
Hospin. P. 116. 



B 



148 The Antiquities of 

it is ordered, That * the Sabbath or Sunday 
shall be observed from Saturday at f noon, 
till the light appear on Monday morning. 

Now hence hath come the present custom, 
of spending a part of Saturday afternoon with- 
out servile labour. And that our fore-fathers, 
when the bell was heard, attended the evening 
prayer, not fearing the loss of time, nor the 
necessities of poverty. Happy would it be for 
us, would we so banish the care of the body 
for the care of the soul ! Would we leave to 
converse about secular business, and mind then 

the 



* Dies sabbati ab ipsa diei saturni bora pomeridlana tertia, us- 
que in luminarii diei diluculum festus agitator, &c. Se/d. Analect. 
AngL Lib, 2. Cap, 6. 

f Mr Johnson upon this law says, That the noon-tide signifies 
three in the afternoon, according to our present account : And this 
practice, I conceive, continued down to the reformation. In king 
"Winfred's time, the LORD'S day did not begin till sun-set on the 
Saturday. See 654. Numb. 10. Three in the afteraoon was horm 
nona in the Latin account, and therefore called noon. How it came 
afterwards to signify mid-day^ I can but guess. The monks, by 
their rules, could not eat their dinner till they had said their noon- 
song^ which was a service regularly to be said at three o'clock ; but 
they probably anticipated their devotions and their dinner, by say- 
ing their noon-song immediately after their mid-day song, and pre- 
sently falling on. I wish they had never been guilty of a worse 
fraud than this. But it may fairly be supposed, that when mid-day 
became the time of diring and saying noon-song, it was for this rea- 
son called noon by the monks, who were the masters of the lan- 
guage during the dark ages. In the shepherd's almanack, noon is 
mid-day, high-noon three o'clock. Johnson, Const. Part 1. Ann. 958. 



The Common People. 



149 



the business of religion ; would we remember 
that it is * the preparation, and that the Sab- 
bath draws on. 

When Jacob was goifig to worship God at 
Bethel, he ordered his family to if put away 
the strange gods that were among them, and 
be clean, and change their garments, and arise 
and go to Bethel. He knew that the God of 
purity and holiness was to be approached with 
the utmost purity they could possibly clothe 
themselves with. And would we, before we 
enter into the presence of God on his own 
day, endeavour to purify ourselves from the 
filth of the world we have contracted in the 
days before ; would we disperse these busy 
swarms of things, which so attract our minds, 
and prepare ourselves for the following day ; 
we should appear before God, less earthly and 
more heavenly, less sinful and more holy ; Our 
% prayers would be set forth in his sight as the 
incense, and the lifting up of our hands be an 
evening sacrifice : And like the smell of Ja- 
cob's garment in the nostrils of his father, the 
smell of our prayers would \\ be like the smell 
of a field which the LORD hath blessed. 

And now what is this preparation, but 
the trimming of our lamps against we meet 

L S the 



* Luke xxiii. 54. 
i Psalm cxllv. 2. 



f Gen. XXXV. 2. 
11 Gen. xxvii. 27. 



150 The Antiquities of 

the Lord on the next day ? Our bodies should 
be refreshed by ceasing early from their la- 
bour, that they may be active and vigorous ; 
and our souls washed with sobriety and tem- 
perance, and the private or public prayer of 
the evening. Thus should we meet the Lord 
at Bethel) and obtain those mercies we sought 
of him there. 

Art thou then blessed with an affluence of 
things, and hath providence placed thee above 
the careful stations of life ? What reason then 
can be sufficient for thy neglect of this cus- 
tom ? For neither canst thou plead the want 
of time, neither dost thou dread the straits of 
poverty. 

Or art thou involved in the cares of busi- 
ness ? Dost thou earn thy bread by the sweat of 
thy face^ and the labours of thy hands ? O well 
is thee ! and happy mayest thou be. Wouldst 
thou dedicate this small time to the service of 
God, it would be like the widow's mite, which 
was more than all that was thrown into the 
treasury : but perhaps, thou wilt say thou art 
under the yoke, subject to servitude, and o- 
bliged to work even to the latter end of the 
day. It may be so, but yet, as God is every 
where present, so wouldst thou remember that 
it is the preparation, and put up an ejaculation 
at thy work, God would accept it, and it would 
prove to thee, an equal good with the other 

preparation. 



The Common People. 151 

preparation. Cassian * tells us, That the an- 
cient monks whilst they were working in the 
private cells, repeated their religious offices : 
And St Jeromj when he is commending the 
pleasing retirement of the village of Bethle- 
hem t says, That in the village of Christ 
there is a secure rusticity : no noise is heard 
there, but the singing of psalms. Wheresoever 
you go, you have either the ploughman singing 
hallelujahs as he's holding the plough, or the 
sweating mower pleasing himself with hymns ; 
or the vine-dresser smging David's psalms. 
These without doubt were acceptable to God, 
and thine undoubtedly will be acceptable also. 
But if thou art not ty'd down by necessity, 
do not say that the common necessaries of life 
require then thy labour : for this is not los- 
ing, but redeeming the time ; what thou spend- 
est in the care of thy soul, is not lost in the care 
of thy body. Never was man poorer, for ob- 
serving the duties of religion. If thou lose 
any thing of the wages of the day, to do the 
service of God, he will take care to supply it, 
thou shalt be no loser. 

L 4 Whi/ 

* Hsfcc officla per totum dici spatlum jugiter cum operia ad- 

jectlone, spontanea celebrantur. Cassian. Instit, Lib, 3. Cap. 2. 

f In Christi villa tuta rusticitas est. Extra psalmos, silentium 
est. Quocunque te verteris, arator stivam retinens aUeluIa decan— 
tatur, sudans messor psalmis se advocat, &c, Hierom» Ejp, 18. ad 
Marcei. 



ft 



't-f 



t 152 The Antiquities, &c. 



Wh^ then art thou fearful, O thou of lit- 
tle faith ! Why dost thou take so much thought 
for thy life? Behold thejozds of the air, for 
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather 
into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feed- 
eth them : art thou not much better than 
they ? And why takest thou thought for rai- 
ment ? consider the lilies of the field, they toil 
not, neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto 
thee, that Solomon, in all his glory, was not 
arrayed like one of these. And shall he not 
much more clothe thee, O thou of little faith f 
Therefore take no thought for what thou shalt 
eat, or what thou shalt drink, or wherewithal 
thou shalt be clothed ; hut seek thoufrst the 
kingdom of GOD and his righteousness ; pre- 
fer the care of these, to the care of all other 
things, ajid all these things shall be added u?i- 
to thee. 

Let not then the busy cares of this life be 
any hindrance to the care of the other ; set a- 
part this small time, for the time of prepara- 
tion, and look on it as an emblem of the whole 
time of life : which is our day of preparation, 
for the eternal Sabbath, the everlasting rest, 
the undisturbed quiet of the other life. 



OB- 



Observations, ^-c. 



153 



OBSERVATIONS 



ON 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE religious observation of the Saturday 
afternoon is now entirely at an end. I 
should be happy, were I able to say with truth 
that the conclusion of that of the Sunday too did 
not seem to be approaching. 

Mr Bourne uses great affectation in translating 
the quotation from Selden. He has printed the 
Latin erroneously too : it ought to be " in lunaris 
" diet diliculum, &c." The Sabbath was not to 
be observed from Saturday at noon, but from three 
o^clock on that day in the afternoon^ and whatever 
part of the day might have been called noon at the 
time he alludes to, he might have hinted to us in 
a note, without confounding it in his text with 
the mid-day of this age. 

To our author's account of the custom of the 
old churches of England and Scotland, an alte- 
ration may be added, of which he seems never to 
have heard. It is, that in the year 1332, at a 
Provincial council, held by Archbishop Mepham, 
at Magfield, after complaint made, that instead of 
fasting upon the vigils, they ran out to all the 
excesses of riot, &c, it was appointed, among 
many other things relative to holy days, " that 
" the solemnity for Sunday should begin upon 
^' Saturday in the evening, and not before, to 

prevent the misconstruction of keeping a judai- 

" cal 



it 



m 



154 Observations^ &€• 

^^ cal Sabbath *." See Collier's Ecclesiastic Hist, 
Vol. I. p. 531. 

Our Author's exhortation towards the conclusion 
of this chapter is, I think, liable to misconstruc- 
tion : an inference might easily be deduced from 
it in favour of idleness. — Perhaps men, who live 
by manual labour, or have families to support by 
it, cannot better spend their Saturday afternoon^ 
than in following the several callings in which 
they have employed themselves on the preceding 
days of the week. — Industry will be no bad prepa- 
ration to the Sabbath ! 

Considered in a political view, much harm hath 
been done by that prodigal *waste of days, very 
falsely called holy days^ in the Church of Rome. 
They have greatly favoured the cause of vice and 
dissipation, without doing any essential service to 
that of rational religion. — Complaints seem to 
have been made in almost every synod and council^ 
of the licentiousness introduced by the keeping 
of vigils. — Nor will the philosopher wonder at 
this, for it has its foundation in the nature of 
things t. 

CHAP. 

* Mr Wheatly tells us, that in the Kast^ the Church thought fit 
to indulge the humour of the Judaizing Christians so far, as to ob- 
serve the Saturday as a festival day of devotion, and thereon to 
meet for the exercise of religious duties, — as is plain from several 
passages of the ancients. Illustration of common prayer, p. 191. 

f For the honour of human nature, (which, like the majestic 
ruins of Palmyra, though prostrate in the dust, is still respectable 
in its decay) I forbear to translate the subsequent quotation from 
Dr Moresin. " Et videre contigit. Anno 1582. Lugduni in Vi- 
** giliis Natalium Domini deprehensos in stupro duos post Missan- 
" tis Altare hora inter duodecimam et primam noctis, cum praeter 
" unum aut aliud altaris lumen, nullum esset in templo reliquum^ 
" &c." Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 177. 



The Antiquities^ &c. 155 



CHAP. XIII. 

Of the Yule-clog and Christmas-candle ; what 
they may signify ; their antiquity ; the like 
customs in other places. 

IN the primitive church, Christmas-day was 
always observed as the Lor dh- day was, 
and was in like manner preceded by an eve or 
vigil. Hence it is that our church hath order- 
ed an eve before it, which is observed by the 
religious, as a day of preparation for that great 
festival. 

Our fore-fathers, when the common devo- 
tions of the eve were over, and night was come 
on, were wont to light up candles of an uncom- 
mon size, which were called Christmas-candles, 
and to lay a log of wood upon the fire, which 
they termed a yule-clog, or Christmas-hlock. 
These were to illuminate the house, and turn 
the night intp day; which custom, in some 
measure, is still kept up in the northern parts. 

It hath, in all probability, been derived 
from the Saxons. For Bede tells us. That this 
very night was observed in this land before, 
by the Heathen Saxons. They * began, says 

he, 

* Incipiebant autem annum ab octavo calendarum Januarii die, 
ubi nunc natale domini celebramus \ & ipsam noctem nunc nobis 

sacre- 



156 The Antiquities of 

he, their year on the eight of the calends of 
January^ which is now our Christmas day ; 
and the very night before, which is now holy 
to us, was by them called mcBdrenack^ or the 
night of mothers ; because, as we imagine, of 
those ceremonies which were performed that 
night. The yule-clog therefore hath probably 
been a part of that night's ceremonies. The 
very name seems to speak it, and tells its ori- 
ginal to every age. 

It seems to have been used as an emblem 
of the return of the suri^ and the lengthening 
of the days. For as * both December and Jfl- 
nuary were called guiVu or t yule^ upon ac- 
count 



sacro-sanctam tunc gentili vocabulo maedrenack, i. c. matrum 
noctem appellabant : Ob causum, ut suspicamur, ceremoniarum, qua* 
in ea pervigiles agebant. Beda de Rat, Temp. Cap, 13. 

* December guili, eodem quo Januarius nomine vocatur. — Guili 
a conversione solis in auctum diei, nomen accipit. Beda^ Ibid, 

f Gehol or Geoi Angl. Sax. Jol vel Jul. Dan. Sax. " And 
" to this day in the north yu/e, youie, signifies the solemn festival 
" of Christmas, and were words used to denote a time of festivity 
*' very anciently, and before the introduction of Christianity among 
" the northern nations. Learned men have disputed much about 
** this word, some deriving it from Julius Ccesar, others from the 
" word Gehtheoi, a wheel, as Bede, who would therefore have it so 
" called, because of the return of the sun's annual course, after the 
** winter's solstice. But he, writing de Rat. Temp, speaks rather 
" as an astronomer than an antiquary. The best antiquarians derive 
" it from the word, o/, ale, which was much used in their festivities 

anci 



The Common People. 157 

count of the sun's returning, and the increase 
of the days ; so, I am apt to beheve, the log 
has had the name of the Yule-log^ from its 
being burnt as an emblem of the returning 
sun, and the increase of its light and heat. 

This was probably the reason of the custom 
among the heathen Saxons ; but I cannot 
think the observation of it was continued for 
the same reason, after Christianity was em- 
braced. For Bishop StiUingfieet observes in 
his Origines Britanicce, " That though the 
" ancient Saions observed twelve days at 
^' that time, and sacrificed to the sun, in 

hopes 

" and merry meetings. And the / in w/, iul cimhr. as the ge and gi 
" in gehol, geoi, giul^ Sax, are premised only as Intensives to add a 
** little to the signification, and make it more emphatical. 01 ox ale, 
" as has been observed, did not only signify the liquor they made 
'* use of, but gave denomination likewise to their greatest festivals, 
" as that of gehol or yule at midwinter ; and as is yet plainly to 
" be discerned in that custom of the IV/iitsun-a/e, at the other great 
" festival." Elstob, Sax, Horn. Birth. Day-Greg. Append. P. 29. 
Bishop Stilllngfleet has also taken notice of this, and says, 
*' That some think the name of this feast was taken from ioia, 
which In the Gothic language signifies to make merry. But he 
" seems not inclinable to this opinion, and therefore tells us, that 
" Olaus Rudbeck thinks the former {vi%. Its being called so from 
*' the joy that was conceived at the return of the sun) more pro- 
" per, not only from Bede''s authority, but because in the old runick 
*' fasti, a wheel was used to denote that festival."' Stilling. Orig. 
Britain. 



iff 



158 The Antiquities of 

" hopes of his returning ; yet when Christiari- 
" ity prevailed, all these idolatrous sacrificefcf 
" were laid aside, and that time of feasting 
" was joined with the religious solemnity of 
" that season, which in other parts of the world 
" were observed by Christians/' And in like 
manner as these days of feasting were joined 
with the religious solemnities of that season, so 
the keeping up of this custom seems to have 
been done with another view than it was ori- 
ginally. If a conjecture may be allowed, it might 
have been done on account of our Saviour's 
birth, which happened that night. For, as the 
burning of it before Christianity, was an em- 
blem of the coming of the sun, which they 
worshipped as their god ; so the continuing 
it after, might have been for a symbol of that 
Light, which was that night born into the 
w orld : The Lis[ht that shineth in darkness ; 
the Light that lighted the Gentiles, that turn- 
ed them from darkness to lights and from the 
power of Satan unto GOD. 

And indeed it will be some strengthening of 
the conjecture, that light has been the emblem 
of several things, both in Scripture, and in the 
ancient Church : For the Scripture makes use 
of it, and the Church in imitation of the Scrip- 
ture, as a lively representation of several 
things. Thus light is the emblem of GOD : 

For 



TM Common People. 159 

For GOD is Light, says the apostle St John^ 
John the Baptist was a burning and a shin- 
ing light. And therefore in some places it 
* is customary to carry torches on St John the 
Baptist's Eve, to represent St John Baptist 
himself, who was a burning and a shining 
light, and a preparer of the way for the True 
Light, that lighteneth every man that cometh 
into the world. The apostles were the light 
of the world ; and as our Saviour was frequent- 
ly called Light, so was his coming into the 
world signified, and pointed out by the em- 
blems of light : "It was then (says our coun- 
" tryman Gregory) the longest night in all the 
" year ; and it was the midst of that, and yet 
" there was day where he was : For a glorious 
" and betokening light shined round about this 
" Holy Child. So says tradition, and so the 
" masters describe the night piece of the na- 
*^ tivity/' If this be called in question, as be- 
ing only tradition, it is out of dispute, that the 
light which illuminated the fields of Bethle^ 
hem, and shone round about the shepherds as 
they were watching their flocks, was an em- 
blem of that Light which was then come 

into 

* Feruntur quoque brandae seu faces ardentes, Sx. fiunt igncs, 
qui significant sanctum Joannem, qui fuit lumen & lucema ardens, 
& praecedens & praecursor verae lucis, quae illuminat omnem ho- 
minem venientem in hunc mundum. Durand, Rational, Lib, 7. 
Cap. 14. Nu. 12. 



i 



160 ^The Antiquities of 

into the world. What * can be the meaning, 
says venerable Bede, that this apparition of 
ano;:els was surrounded with that heavenly 
light, which is a thing we never meet with in 
all the Old Testament ? For though angels 
have appeared to prophets and holy men, yet 
we never read of their appearing in such glory 
and splendour before. It must surely be, be- 
cause this privilege was reserved for the dignity 
of this time. For when the true Light of the 
world was born in the world, it was very 
proper that the proclaimer of his nativity 
should appear in the eyes of men in such an 
heavenly light, as was before unseen in the 
world. And that supernatural star^ which 
was the guide of the Eastern Magi^ was a fi- 
gure of that Star which was risen out of Ja- 
cob ; of that Light which should lighten the 
Gentiles. " God, says Bishop Taijlor^ sent a 
" miraculous Star, to invite and lead them to a 
" new and more glorious light, the light of 
" grace and glory.^^ 

In imitation ot this, as Gregory tells us, the 
church went on with the ceremony : And 

hence 

* Quid est quod apparenti angelo divinae quoque claritatis splen- 
dor eos circumdedit, quod nunquam in tota testament! veteris serie 
& reperimus, cum tam innumeris vicibus angeli prophetis & justis 
apparuerunt, nusquam eos fulgore divinae lucis homines circumde- 
disse legimus j nisi quod hoc privilegium recte hujus temporis dig- 
nitati servatum est ? &c. Bed, Hyem, de Sanct, in GaL Cant, 



The Common People, 



I6i 



hence it was, that for the three or four first 
centuries^ the whole Eastern Churchy called 
the day, which they observed for our Saviour s 
nativity, the epiphanj/^ or manifestation of the 
light. And Cassian tells us, ^ That it was a 
custom in Egypt, handed down by tradition, 
as soon as the epiphany, or day of light was 
over, &c. Hence also came that ancient cus- 
tom of the same church, taken notice of by St 
Jerome, of -f* lighting up candles at the read* 
ing of the gospel, even at noon day ; and that, 
not to drive away the darkness, but to speak 
their joy for the good tidings, and be an em- 
blem of that light, which the Psalmist says, 
zvas a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his 
paths. 

Light therefore having been an emblem of 
so many things, and particularly of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, both in the sacred history, 
and in the practice of the church ; it is no way 
improbable, that after their conversion, the 
Saxons used it as an emblem of Him, who 
that night came into the world, and was the 

M light 



* Intra Egypti regionem mos iste traditlone antlqua servatur, u£ 
peracto epiphaniorum die, &c. Cassian Coil. 10. C. 20. 

f Absque martyrum reliquils per totas orientis ecclesias, quum 
legendum est evangelium, accenduntur lumlnarla jam sole ruti- 
lante, non utique ad fugandas tenebras, sed ad signum laetiti^ de- 
monStranduitt, &c. Jerom, Cont. Vigil Cap. 2: 



l62 The Antiquities of^ Sec. 

light thereof. In the city of Const ant inopk, 
on the eve of Easter, there was a custom prac- 
tised, much hke this of our Christmas-eve. For 
then the whole city was illuminated with ta- 
pers and torches, which continued all the night, 
turning the night into day, till almost the daj- 
appeared. The reason of this custom, was to 
represent that Light which the. next day arose 
upon the worldv The difference between these 
two customs, is that of the time, the reason of 
their observation is much the same. The one 
illuminated the eve of Easter, that there might 
be an emblem of the Sun of Righteousness, 
who the next day arose upon the world ; the 
other, the eve of yule, to give an emblem of 
that Light which was the Day-spring from on 
high. Nay this eve af yuhy as Gregory tells 
us, " wajs illuminated with so many tapers a- 
*^ mong the ancients, as to give to the vigil the 
** name of vigilia lunwium ; and the ancients, 
" says he, did well to send lights one to ano- 
" ther, whatever some think of the Christmas- 
^ candle:' 

* Eus, Vit. Constan. Caj). 22. Lb, 5. 



Observations, ^-c, l63 

OBSERVATIONS 

oisr 
CHAPTER XIIL 

MR Bourne omits the yule-doughy (or do'w) a 
kind of bahi/ or little image of paste, which 
(^ur bakers used formerly to bake at this season, 
wad present to their customers, in the same mariner 
as the chandlers gave Christmas-candles, They are 
called yule-cakes in the county of Durham. 1 find 
in the apcient calendar of the Romish church *, 
that at Rome, on the vigil of the nativity, sweet- 
meats were presented to the fathers in the Vatican^ 
and that all kinds of little images (no doubt of* 
paste) were to be found at the confectioners* 
shops. 

There is the greatest probability that we hav^ 
had from he?ice both our ytde-doughs t and minc& 
pies, the latter of which are still in common use 
at this season. The yule-dough has perhaps been 
intended for an image of the Child Jesus. It is 
iiow, if I mistake not, pretty generally laid aside^ 
or at most retained only by children. 

M 2 J. Boe^ 

* In Vatlcano — Du/czd patrlbus exhibentur. 

In cupidinaridrnrtt mensis^ omnium generum imaguncul^. 

Vide libruiTl rarissimum, cui titulus Ephemeris^ sive Diarium 
historicum i &:c. Francofurti. 1590. quarto. 

f Dough or dow is vulgarly used in the North for a little cake^ 
though it properly signifies a mass of flour tempered with water, 
salt, yeast, and kneaded fit for baking. — It is derived, as Junius 
tells us, from the Dutch decg, v/hich comes from the theotiscan^ 
thihen^ to gro^v bigger, or rise, as (if I nU-Stake not} the bakexs. 
Uim it. 



■^^* Observations on 

^ J. Boemus * Aubanus tells us, that in Franco- 
nia, on the three Thursday nights preceding the 
7iativity of our Lord, it is customary for the youth 
of both sexes to go from house to house, knocking 
at the doors, shiging their Christmas carrots, and 
ijcishing a hapjpy new-year, — They get in return 
from the houses they stop at, pears, apptes, nuts^ 
and even money. 

Little troops of boys and girls go about in this 
very manner at Newcastle, some few nights be- 
fore, on the night of the eve of this day, and o» 
that of the day itsetf, — The hagmena is still pre- 
served among them. They still c&nclude too with 
wishing " t a merry Christmas, and a happy new- 
year.'* 

We are told in the Athenian oracle, that the 
Christmas t box-money is derived from hence. — 

The 

* In trium quintarum feriarum noctibus, quae proxime Domini 
nostri nataleyii praecedunt, utriusque sexus pueri domes tic a tim eunt 
januas pu/santes, cantantesque : futurum salvatoris exortum an- 
nunciant et salubrem annum : unde ab his qui in aedibus sunt, 
pyra, poma, nuccs & nummos etizm percipiunt. P. 264. 

-f- ** It is ordinary among some plebeians in the south of Scot- 
" land, to go about from door to door upon yew-year's eve, crying 
" hagmane, a corrupted word from the Greek ayiat ^V"'* ^' ^• 
*' hohj month. (It is more probably a corruption of some Saxoii 
« words.)" 

" John Dixon, holding forth against this custom once in a ser- 
" mon at Kelso, says " Sirs, do you know what hagmane signi- 
" fies ? It is the devil be in the house ! that's the meaning of it- 
*' Hebrew original.*^ Vide Scotch Presb. Eloquence, p. 102. 

One preaching against the observation of Christmas, said in a 
Scotch jingle, " Ye will say. Sirs, good old youl-day ; I tell 
** you, good old fool-day. — You will say, it is a brave holiday ; I 
" tell you, it is a brave belly-day.'''' Ibid. p. 98. This is Jack 
tearing off the lace^ and making a plain coat I See Swift's Tale of 
a Tub. 

X This is still retained in barbers' shops : a thrift-box (as It i- 
vulgarly called) is put up against the wall, and every customer puts 
in sometliing. — Mr Gay mentions it thus : 

Some 



^ 



Chapter XIIL l6a 

The Romish priests had masses said for almost 
every thing : If a ship went out to the Indies, 
the priests had a box in her, under the protection 
of some saint : And for masses, as their cant was, 
to be said for them to that saint, &c. the poor 
people must put something into the priest's box, 
which is not to be opened till the ship return. 

The mass at that time was called Christmas * ; 
the hox^ Christmas-box^ or money gathered against 
that time, that masses might be made by the priests 
to the saints to forgive the people the debauch- 
eries oithat time; and from this servants had the li- 
berty to getbox-moTwy^ that they too might be enabled 

Ms t® 

Some boys are rich by birth beyond all wants, 
Belov'd by uncles and kind good old aunts 5 
When time comes round a Christmas-hox they bear, 
And one day makes them rich for all the year. 

Gay's Trivia. 

* Christmas^ says Selden, succeeds the Saturnalia, the same 
time, the same number of holy days, when the master waited upon 
the servants like the Lord of Misrule, Table Talk. 

In the feast of Christmas, says Stowe in his Survey, there was in 
the king's house, a Lord of Misrule, or matter of merry disports^ 
and the like had ye in the house of every nobleman of honour, or 
good worship, were he spiritual or temporal. The mayor of Lon- 
don, and either of the sheriflFs, had their several lords of misrule, 
ever contending, without quarrel or offence, who should make the 
rarest pastimes to delight the beholders. These lords, beginaing 
their rule at All-hallon-eve, continued the same till the morrow af- 
ter the feast of the .purification, commonly called Candlemas-day : 
In which space, there were fine and subtil disguisings, masks, and 
mummeries, with playing at cards for counters, nayles, and points 
in every house, more for pastime than for gain. P. 79. 

On the pulling doAvn of Canterbury Court, Christ Church, Ox- 
ford, 171 J, many of these counters were found. There was a hole 
in the centre of each, and they appeared to have been strung toge- 
ther. I saw many of them, having been at Oxford at that time. 



-m 



|66 Observations on 

to pay the piest for his masses^ knowing well the 
truth of the proverb, 

" No penny, ijo pater-noster/' 

Christmas, says Blount, was called the feast of 
lights, in the western or Latin church, because 
they used many lights or candles at the feast ; or 
rather, because Christ, the Light oi all i/^/z/5, that 
true Light then came into the world. 

Hence it should seem the Christmas candle^ 
and what was perhaps only a succedaneum, the 
yule-clog * or block, before candles t were in gene- 
ral use. — Thus a very large coal is often set apart 
at present in the north for the same purpose, 
i, ^. to make a great light on yule or Christmas 

eve 

* Clog Is properly a piece of Tvood, fastened about the legs of 
beasts to keep them from nmning astray. — In a secondary or figura- 
tive sense, it signifies a load, Fet, or hinderance. Thus also a truant 
f/o^.— Bailey supposes it to come from log, (which he derives from 
the Saxon hjan to lie, because of its iveight, it lies as it were ;>/?- 
move able) the trunk of a tree or stump of wood for fuel,— 5/orA: h'a^ ~ 
the same signification. 

There is an old Scotch proverb, " He's as hare as the birk at 
'* yule e'en," which perhaps alludes to this custom \ the hirk mean- 
ing a block of the birch tree, stripped of its bark, and dried against 
yule even. — It is spoken of one who is exceedingly poor. 

f This is merely conjecture ! and yet we can do little else but 
make conjectures concerning the origin of customs of such remote 
antiquity. 

Perhaps the yule block will be found at last only the counter 
•part of the midsummer Jires, made on within doors because of the 
cold weather at this winter solstice, as those in the hot season, at 
the summer one, are kindled in the open air. — After a diligent and 
close study of Gebelin, the French Bryant, on this subject, one 
cannot fail, I think, of adopting this hypothesis, which Is confirmeU 
l^y great probability and many cogent, if not iniallible proofe. 



Chapter XIII. 16? 

ti)e. Lights indeed seem to have been used upon 
all festive occasions : — Thus our illuminations ^Jire- 
"works ^ &c. on the news of victories. 

In the ancient times, to which we would trace 
ba.ck the origin of these almost obsolete customs, 
blocks^ logs, or clogs, of dried wood, might be easi- 
ly procured, and provided against this festive sea- 
son : At that time of day it must have been in. 
the power but of a Jew to command candles or 
iorrhes for makii^ii?: their annual illuminatio?i* 

Besides the de:; liticn?- cf the word yule, which 
Bourne gives us from Elstob, Stillingfleet, &c. I 
shall lay yet othe>3 before my readers, but per- 
haps ought not to presume to determine which is 
absolutely the true -t etymon. There have beea 
great controversies about this word ; and many 
perhaps will think it Jtill left in a state of unceir 
tainty, like the subject of the 

— " Certant^ et adhuc sub judice lis est/* of 
Horace. 

Dr Moresin * supposes it a corruption of /o / lo! 
well known as an ancient acclamation on joyful 
occasions. 

Ule, Yeule, Yool, or Yule games, says Blount, 
in our northern parts, are taken for Christmas 
games or sports : From the French nou'el, Christf 
mas, which the Normans corrupt to nuel, and 
from nuel we had nule, or ule, 

M 4 Dr 

* Sed Scoti adhuc efficacius solltl sunt reddere Saturnalia^ qui 
sd Natalia Christi per urbes nocte ululare solebant, luL, lul, noji- 
a nomine lulii Caesaris, sed corrupte pro /o, lo, ut fieri solet in om- 
ai linguarum ad diversos commigratione, et hodie cum ab aliis alius 
siccipit, fit. Moresin, Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 106. 



4i> 



J6S Observations on 

Dr Hammond thinks yule should be taken im- 
mediately from the Latin Jubilum *, as that signi- 
fies a time of rejoicings or festivity. 

M. Court de GebeHn, in his Allegories Orienta- 
les, printed at Paris, 1773, is profuse of his learn- 
ing- on the etymon of this word. 

lol t, says he, pronounced hiol, iul^ jul, giul, 
kweoly wheels mel, vol, &c. is a primitive word, car- 
rying with it a general idea of revolution^ and of 
wheeL ^ 

lul'iom signifies in Arabic tej^r^/ day of the 
year : literally , the day of revolution or of return. 

GiiU'Ous in the Persian tongue is anniversary. 
It i appropriated to that of i king's coronation. 
Hiid in Danish and Swedi?a implies wheel. 
It is wiel in Flemisli, 
In English, wheel 

The 

* Mr Selden, in defining the word gentlemen, tells us, that in 
the beginning of Christianity, the fathers writ contra gentes, and 
conira^f«//.'^j, thev were all one: but after all were Christian?, 
the better sort of peuple still retained the name of Gentiles, through- 
out the four provinces of the Roman empire j as Gentil-homme in 
French, Gentil-Jiomo in Italian, Gentil-huowbre in Spanish, and 
Genii l-man in English : and they, no question, being persons of 
quality, kept up those feasts which we borrow from the Gentiis ; as 
Christmas^ Candlemas, May-day, &.c. continuing what was not di- 
rectly against Chri.stianity, >vhich the common people would never 
have endured. Table Talk. 

" \ lol prononcc hiol, iul, Jul, giul, hweol, wheel iciel, vol, 
&c. est un mot primitif qui emporta avec lui toute idee de revolu- 
tion^ et de roue. 

lul-iotn designe en Arabe le premier jour de tannee : c^est mot 
a mot le jour de la revolution, ou du retour, 

Giul-o^/J' en Persan signifie anniversaire. I est aflfecte a cellc 
du couronneroent des Rois. 

Hiul en .'Danols & en Suedois signifie roue. 
En Flamand, c'est wiel. 
En Anglois, wheel. 

Chez 




Chapter XIIL l69 

!rhe verb well-m in German signifies to turn. 
Wei implies waves, which are incessantly 
coming and going. 

^Tis our word houk (i. e. French.) 

The vol'Vo of the Latin too is from hence. 

The solstices being the times when the sun re- 
turns back again, have their name from that cir- 
cumstance. Hence the Greek name tropics, 
which signifies return. 

'Twas the same^amongst the Celts: — They gave 
the name of iul to the solstices and to the months 
which commence at the solstices, which in like 
manner signified return. 

Stiernhielm, skilled in the languages and anti- 
quities of the north, informs us, that the ancient 
inhabitants of Sweden celebrated a feast which 
they called iul, in the winter solstice, or Christmas ; 
that this word means revolution, wheel ; that the 
month of December is called iul-month, the month 
of return, and that the word is written both Mule 
and giule. 

The 

Chez les Germains le verbe Well-Gn signifie tourner, 

Wei designe les flots, parce qu'ils ne font qu' aller & venir. 

C'est notre mot houie. 

De-la le Vol-i;o des Latins. 

Les solstices etant le tems ou le soleil revient sur ses pas, en 
prirent le Nom : de-la chez les Grecs le nom des Tropiques, qui 
signifie retour. 

II en fut de milme chez les Celtes. lis donnerent aux solstices, 
et aux mois qui commencent aux solstices, le nom d'/i//, qui signi- 
fioit egalement retour. 

Stiernhielm, habile dans les langues & dans les Antiquites du 
Nord, nous aprend, que les anciens habitans de la Suede cele- 
broient au solstice d'hyver ou a Noel, une fete, qu'ils appelloient 
ml, que cc mot signifie revolution, roue ; que le mois de Decembre 
s'en apelloit, iul-manat, mois du retour, & que cet mos s'ecrivoit 
.egalement par i^/z//^ &. ^z///<f. 

Les 



m 



JyP Observations on 

The people in the county of Lincoln, in Eng* 
land, still call a log^ or stump which they put into 
the fire on Christmas day, (which was to last for 
the whole octave) a gule-bloc/c, i. e. block or log 
of iul. 

We must not be surprised then if our month of 
Juli/y which follows the summer solstice, has had 
its name from hence. ^Tis true the Romans tell 
lis this month took its name from Julius Ccesar / 
an etymon that suited well wuth the flatteries they 
heaped on their emperors, though they had done 
nothing but altered the pronunciation of the word 
inly to make it agree with the name of Julius^ 
which they pronounced luIuSy a name which As- 
canius, the son of ^neas, had also, and which as- 
cended from thence even to the primitive lan- 
guages of the east. 

The case had been the same ^vith the month 
following. 

If these two months were fixed to bear the 
pames of their first and second emperors, it wa^ 

prin- 

Les liabltans du comte de Lincoln en Angleterre, apellent en- 
eore Gule-hlock^ Bloc, ou souche de lul^ la touche qu'on met au feu 
le jour de }\o'el^ &. qui doit durer POctave entiere. 

II ne faudroit done pas ^tre etonne si notre mois de Juillet qui 
suit le solstice d'ete, eiit pris son nom de la. Les Romains nous 
disent, il est vrai, que ce mois tira son nom de Jule? Cesar j c<r 
pouroit etre une etymologic digne des flatteries dont ils accabloient 
leurs Empereurs, tandis qu'ils n'auroient fait qu'altcrer la pronon- 
ciation du mot Iul pour le faire quadrer avec le nom de Jules ^ qu'ils 
pronongoient lulus^ nom que porta aussi Ascagne, fils d'^nee, 
& qui remontoit par la meme aux langues premieres de POrient. 
II en aura ete de meme du mois suivant. 

S'ils choisirent ces duex mois pour leur faire porter les noms du 
premier & du second de leurs Empereurs, ce fut premierement parcc 

que 



Chapter XIII. 171 

principally because their names already resembled 
those of Julius and Augustus. 

They did it also in imitation of the Egyptians, 
^vho had given to these two months the names of 
their two first kings, Mesor and Thot, 

As the month of August was the first in the 
Egyptian year, the first day of it was called Gule^ 
which being latinized makes Gula. Our legenda- 
ries, surprised at seeing this word at the head of 
the month of August, did not overlook but con- 
verted it to their own purpose. They made out 
of it the feast of the daughter of the tribune 
Quirinus, cured of some disorder in her throat, 
(gula is Latin for throat) by kissing the chains of 
St Peter, whose feast is solemnized on this day. 

Thus far our learned foreigner, and with such 
a convincing parade of proof, that we must be 
sceptics indeed if we doubt any longer of the trUG 
origin of this very remarkable word, 

que les noms de ces mols avoient deja du raport a ceux de Jules f 
& ^''Auguste, 

Ce -u. secon •' ment, pour imiter les Egyptiens qui avoient donne 
a ces deux inois le nom de leurs deux premiers Rois, Mesor et 
Thot, 

Comme le mois d'Aout etoit le premier mot de I'annee Egyp- 
tienne, on en apella \^ premier jour Gule: ce mot lat^ni^e, fit Gula, 
Nos Legendaires surpris de ■ « Ir ce nom a la titedu r ois d'Aout, 
ne s'oublierent pas j ils en firent la fete de la Fille du Tribun Qui- 
rinus, guerie d'un mal de gorge en baisajit les liens de Saint Pierre. 
dont on celebre la f^te ce JQur-la. 



CHAP, 



172 



The Antiquities of 



CHAP. XIV. 

Of adorning the windows at Christmas with 
Laurel : What the Laurel is an emblem of: 
An objection against this custom taken off. 



ANOTHER custom observed at this season, 
is the adorning of windows with bay and 
laurel. It is but seldom observed in the north, 
but in the southern parts, it is very common, 
particularly at our universities ; where it is 
castomafy to adorn, not only the common win- 
dows of the town^ and of the colleges^ but also 
to bedeck the chapels of the colleges with 
branches of laurel. 

The laurel was used among the ancient Ro- 
mans^ as an emblem of several things, and in 
particular, of * peace^ and joy, and victory. 
And I imagine, it has been used at this season 
by Christians, as an emblem of the same 
things ; as an emblem of joy for the victory 
gained over the powers of darkness, and of that 
peace on earthy that good-will towards meuy 
Avhich the angels sung over the fields of Beth-* 
lehein. 

It 

* Laurus & pacifera habetur, quam praetendi inter armatos hos- 
t^y quietis sit indicium. Romanis praecipue laetitise victoriarumque 
nuntia. Poiyd, Virg, de Rer, Invent, Lib, 3. Cap, 4. P. 164. 



The Common People. 173 

It * has been made use of by the non-con- 
formists, as an argument against ceremonies, 
that the second council of Bracara, "f* Ca?i, 73. 
forbade Christians " to deck their houses with 
" bay leaves and green boughs,'* But the 
council does not mean, that it was wrong in 
Christians to make use of these things, but 
only " at the same time with the pagans, when 
" they observed and solemnized their paganish 
" pastime and worship. And of this prohibi- 
" tion, they give this reason in the same ca- 
*^ non ; Omnis hcec observatio paganismi est. 
" All this kind of custom doth hold of pagan- 
" ism : Because the outward practice of hea- 
" thenish rites, performed jointly with the pa- 
gans themselves, could not but imply a con- 
sent in paganism.^ 
But at present, there is no hazard of any such 
thing. It may be an emblem of joy to us, 
without confirming any in the practice of hea- 
thenism. The time, the place, and the rea- 
sons of the ceremony, are so widely different ; 
that, though formerly to have observed it, 
would unquestionably have been a sin, it is 
now become harmless, comely, and decent. 

OB- 

* T/ie general defence of the three articles of the Church of 
England. Z). 107. 

f Non liceat inlquas observantias agere Kalendarum, & ociis va- 
care Gentilibus, neque lauro, neque virldltate arborum cingere do- 
mes. Omnis enim hgec observatio paganismi est. Brace, Can. 7o. 
Ittstell, 






II 



it4 Observations oil 

OBSERVATIONS 



ON 

CHAPTER XIV. 

STOW *, in his Survey of London, tells u^^ 
" Against the feast of Christmas, every man's 
*' house, as also their parish churches, were decked 
" with holme, ivy, hayes, and whatsoever the 
" season of the year afforded to be green : The 
*^ conduits and standards in the streets, were Hke- 
'^ wise garnished. Among the which, I read, that 

« in 

* In the ancient calendar of the church of Rome, I find the fol* 
lowing observation on Christmas ev^ : 

** Templa exornantury 
" Churches are decked." 
Mr Gay in his Trivia describes this custom : 
When rosemanj and bays, the poet's croTvn^ 
Are bawled in frequent cries through all the town j 
Then judge the festival of Christmas n^ar, 
Christmas, Xhe joyous period of the year ! 
Now with bright holly all the temples stroWy 
With laurel green and sacred mis let oe. ' 

There is an essay in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1765, in whici?' 
it is conjectured that the ancient custom of dressing churches and 
houses at Christmas with laurel, box, holly, or ivy, was in alius icii 
to many figurative expressions in the prophets, relative to Christ, 
the Branch of Righteousness, &c. or^that it was in remembrance of 
the oratory of wry then wands, or bouglis, which was the first Chris- 
tian church erected in Britain : Before we can admit either of thesr 
hypotheses, the question must be determined whether or no this cus- 
tom was not prior to the introduction of the Christian faith amongst 
us. 

The learned Dr Chandler tells us, " it is related where Druidism 
** prevailed, the houses were decked with ever-greens in December. 
" that the sylvan spirits might repair to them, and remain un 
** nipped with frost and cold winds, until a milder season had ;r- 
" newed th^ foliage of their darling abodes," 

Travels in Grcecti. 



Chapter XlV. VlB 

^* in tlie year 1444, by tempest of thunder and 
" lightning ; toward the morning of Candlemas 
*' day, at the Leaden Hall, in Corn-hill, a stan- 
** dard of tree^ being set up in the midst of the 
" pavement^ fast in the ground^ nailed full of holme 
" and me, for disport of Christmas to the people ; 
" was tor7ie up and cast downe by the malignant ^ 
** spirit^ (as was thought) and the stones of the 
" pavement all about were cast in the streets, and 
*^ irito divers houses, so that the people were sore 
'^ aghast at the great tempests/* 

In the north there is another custom used at 
or about this time^ which, if I mistake not, was 
anciently observed in the beginning of lent : 
^he fool plough goes about, a pageant that con- 
sists of a number of sword daftcers t, dragging a 

plough, 

* This illustrates the Spectator's observation, where he telfs us, 
that oMr forefather's looked into nature with other 6yes than we do 
now, and always ascribed CGmraon natural effects to supernatural 
causes : This Joi/ of the people at Christmas was, it should seem, 
^/eath to their infernal enemy — envying their festal pleasures^ and 
owing thfem a grudge, he took this opportunity of spoiling their 
sport I 

f Aliter, the white plough^ so called because the gallant young 
men that compose it, appear to be dressed in their shirts y (without 
coat or waistcoat) upon which great numbers of ribbands foKed into 
roses, are loosely stitched on. It appears to be a very airy habit at 
this cold season, but they have warm waistcoats under it. 

Mr Wallis, in his History of Northumberland, tells us, that the 
saltatio arfnata of the Roman militia, on their festival Armilus^" 
irium^ celebrated 19th of October, is still practised by the 
country people in this neighbourhood, on the anriual festivity 
of Christmas^ the yule-tide of the Druids. Young men march 
from village to milage^ and from house to house^ with music 
before them, dressed in an antic attire^ and before the vestibulufn 
or entrance of every house, entertain the family with the mo- 
tus inco.'^ositus, the antic dance, or chorus armatus, with 
swords K^:^£ears in their hands, trect and shining: this they 

CJlll 



J 



m 



176 Observations on 

plough, with music, and one, sometimes two, in 
a very antic dress ; the Bessy ^ in the grotesque 
habit of an old woman^ and the Jbol, almost cover- 
ed with skins, a hairy cap on, and the tail of 
some animal hanging from his back : The office 
of one of these charactei^s is, to go about rattling 
a box amongst the spectators of the dance, in 
which he collects their little donations. 

This pageant or dance, as used at present, seems 
a composition made up of the gleanings of several 
obsolete customs followed anciently, here and 
elsev;here, on this and the like festive occasions. 

I find a very curious and minute description of 
the s'word dance in Olaus Magnus' * history 

of 

call the sword dance. For their pains they are presented with a 
small gratuity in money, more or less, according to every house- 
holder's ability j their gratitude is expressed hy firing a gun, Onel 
of the company is distinguished from the rest by a more antic dre« j 
a fox^s skin generally serving him for a covering and ornament X\y 
his head, the tail hanging down his Z>jc^.— This droll figure is their 
chief, or leader. He does not mingle in the dance. Vol. ii. p. 29. 

* De Chorea gladiatoria, vel 
Armifera saltatione. 
Habent praeterea septentrionales Gothi et Sueci pro exercenda ju- 
ventute^ — luduni, quod inter nudos enses, et infestos Gladios seu 
frameas, sese exerceant saltu : idque quodam gymnastico ritu et 
disciplina, aetate successiva, a peritis et praesultore, sub cantu addis- 
cunt : et ostendunt hunc ludum praecipue tempore Camisprivii Mas- 
chararum Italico verbo dicto. Ante etenim tempus ejusdem Car- 
nisprivii, octo diebus continua saltatione sese adolescentes numerosc 
exercent, elevatis scilicet Gladiis, sed vagina reclusis, ad triplicem 
gyrum. Deinde evaginatis, itidemque elevatis Ensibus, postmo- 
dum manuatim extensis, modes(iiis gyrando alterius Cuspidem O- 
pulumque receptantes, sese mutato or dine in modum figurce hex'a- 
goni subjiciunt : quam Kosam dicunt. Et ilico earn gladios retra- 
hendoj eievandoque resolvunt, ut super uniuscuj usque Caput 

qtiadrata 



Chapter XIV. it? 

C)f the northern nations. — He tells us, that the 
jiorthern Goths and Swedes have a sport wherein 
they exercise their youth, consisting of a dance 
with swords in the following manner : First, with 
'their swords sheathed and erect in their hands, 
they dance in a triple round. Then with their 
drawn swords held erect as before : Afterwards 
extending them from hand to hand, they lay hold of 
each other's hilt and point, while they are wheel- 
ing more moderately round, and changing their 
order, throw themselves into the figure of a hei^a- 
^on, which they call a Rose. — But presently rais* 
ing and drawing back their swords, they undo 
that figure, to form (with them) a four-square 
rbse, that may rebound over the head of each. At 
last they dance rapidly backwards, and vehement- 
ly rattling the sides of their swords together, 
conclude the sport* Pipes, or songs (sometimes 
both) direct the measure, which at first is slow, 
but increasing afterwards, becomes a very quick 
©ne, towards the conclusion. 

He calls this a kind oi Gymnastic rite *, in which 
the ignorant were successively instructed by 
those who were skilled in it : And thus it must 
have been preserved and handed down to us. — I 
h^ve been a frequent spectator of this dancey 

N which 

iqttadrata rosa resultet : et tandem veliettientissima gladiorum late^ 
rail collisione^ celerrime retrograda saltatione determinant ludum : 
quern tihiis, vel cantiienis, aut ittrisque simul, prlmum per gravi- 
orem, demum vehementioreni saltum, et ultimo impetuosissimum, 
Hioderantur. Olai Magni. Gent. Septent. Hist. Breviar, p. 341. 
* Dr Moresin alludes to a dance at this season without swords^ 
in these words. — " Sicinnium^ genus saltationis, seu choreae ubi Sal- 
*' titantes cantabant, ac Papistae facere sunt soliti in Scotia ad Na-^ 
*^ talitia Domini^ ^l a/ih' ^dhuQ servant." p. 160, 



m 



178 Observations on 

"vvhich is now performed with few or no altera- 
tions ; only they lai/ their swords^ whenjbrmed into 
ajigure, upon the ground and dance round them. 

With regard to the plough drawn about on this 
occasion ; I find the Monday after twelfth day^ 
called anciently (as Coles tells u^) Plough Monday y 
" when , our northern plough men^ beg plough 
*' money to drink," (it is very probable they would 
draw about a plough on the occasion ; so in hard 
frosts our watermen drag a boat about the streets, 
begging money J : and he adds, " In some places, if 
" the ploughman (after that day's work) come 
*' with his whip to the kitchen hatch, and cry, 
'' Cock in pot," before the maid says, " Cock (Hi 
" the dunghill," he gains a cock for shrove Tues- 
** day *." Vide cock-fighting in the appendix. 

Joannes Boemus Aubanus t, in his description 
of some remarkable customs used in his time in 
Franconia, a part of Germany, tells us of the 
following on ash Wednesday, Such young women 
as have frequented the dances throughout the 
y^ar, are gathered together by young men, and 
instead of horses, are yoked to a plough^ upon 
which a piper sits and plays : in this manner they 
are dragged into a "water, — He suspects this to have 
been a kind of self-enjoined or voluntary penance, 

for 

* Coles tells us also of an old custom in some places, of farmer? 
giving sharping corn to their smith at Christmas, for sharping 
plough irons ^ &c. 

f In die Cinerum mirum est, quod in plerisque locis agitur. Vir- 
gines quotquot per Minum choream firequentaverunt a juvenibu? 
congregantur, et Arairo, pro equis, advecttt^ cum tibiclne, qui 
super ifiud modulans sedet, in fluvium aut lacum trahuntur. Id 
quare fiat non plane video, nisi cogitem eas per hoc expiare vclle, 
quod festis diebus contra ecclesiae praeceptum, a le\'itate sua nou 
ftbstinuennt. P. 267. 



Chapter XlV. 179 

for not having abstained from their favourite 
sport on holidays, contrary to the injunctions of 
the church; 

I can find nothing more relative to the plough^ 
though in Du Gangers Glossary, there is a re- 
ference to some old laws *, which mention the 
" drawing a plough about *^ which I guess would 
have afforded something to our purpose, could I 
have found them. 

As to tht fool and Bessy ^ they are plainly frag- 
ments of the ancient festival t oj fools, held on 
new-year's day. See Trusler's Chronology. 

There was anciently a profane t sport, among 
the heathens on the calends of January^ Vhen 
they used to roam about in disguises, resembling 
the figures of wild beasts, of cattle, of old womem, 
The Christians adopted this : Faustinus^ the bi- 
shop, inveighs against it with great warmth.— ^ 
They were wont to be covered with skins of cat- 
tle, and to put on the heads of beasts, &c. 

Dr Johnson tells us in his Journey to the Wes^ 

tern Islands, that a gentleman informed him of an 

odd game : At new-year's eve, in the hall or castle 

N 2 of 

* Aratrum eircumducere, in Lege Bajuvar. tit. 17. { 2. 

f Fau^tinus Episcopus in Serm. in K^lend. Jan. has these 
•words : " Q^uis enim sapiens credere poterit inveniri aliquos san» 
** mentis, qui cervulum faeientes, inferarum se velint habrtus com- 
*' mutafi ? Alii vestiuntur pellibus pecudum^ alii assumunt capita 
** bestiarum, gaudentes & exultantesj si taliter se mferinas specie:! 
" transformaverint, lit homines non esse videantuf." Dii Gange : 
in Gervuld, 

X Ludi profani apud Et^nicos et Paganos — solebant ii kalendis 
Januarii belluarum^ peeudum, et vetularitm assumptis formis hue et 
illuc discursare' et petulantius se se gerere : quod a Christianis non, 
modo proscriptum, sed & ab iis postmodum inductum constat, ut 
ed die ad calcandam geniiliufh coiuuetuditiem privatge §crent litania5 
i^t jejuriaretur, &c. Ibid, 



f! 



180. Obstv^ations^ &c. 

of the lairdj where at testal seasons, there may 
be supposed a very numerous company, one man 
dresses himself in a ccm^s hide^ upon which other 
men })eat with sticks. He runs with all this noise 
round the house, which all the company quits in 
a counterfeited fright; the door is then shut. At 
fiew-year's eve there is no great pleasure to be 
Iiad out of doors in the Hebrides. They are 
sure soon to recover from their terror enough to 
solicit for re-admission ; which, for the honour of 
poetry, is not to be obtained but by repeating a 
Verse, with which those that are knowing and 
provident, take care to be furnished. 

This is no doubt a vestige of the festival ^ of 
fools above described. — See Du Gauge's Glossary 
in Verbo. Kaknda', &c. &c* The " vestiuntur 
pellibus pecudum," and " a man's dressing himself 
^^ in a cow's hide," both too on the first of Janu- 
ary t, are such circumstances as leave no room 
/or doubt, but that, allowing for the mutilations 
of time, they ave o?ie and the sarne custom U 

CHAR 

* AfRrmatit se vidisse annis singulis in Romana urbe & juxtk 
ecclesiam S. Petri, in die, vel nocte, quando calendae Januarii in- 
trant, paganorum consuctudine choros ducere per plateas & acclama- 
tioiies ritu gentiliura &. cantationes sacrilcgas celebrare & mensas 
illas die vel nocte dapibus onerare, et nullum de domo sua, vel tg- 
■Jiem, vel ferramentitm, vel aliquid commodi vicino suo prjestarc 
VeWc, Ibid. 

-f- They sat up the whole night on these vigils. 

X The learned traveller tells us, that they who played at this 
odd game, gave no account of the origin of It, and that he described 
it, as it might perhaps be used in other places, where the reason of 
it is not yet forgot. — I am persuaded that if Dr Johnson will take 
the trouble of consulting Du Cange's Glossary in Verb. Cervuia & 
Ka/endce, he will no longer remain ignerant of the original of tKI- 
fclngular custom. 



The Antiquities^ Sec. 



181 



t. 

hi 
of 



CHAP. XV. 



• '/ the Christmas-carol, an ancient Custom ': 
J The common observation of it very unbe- 



coming. 



I A S soon as the morning of the nativity ap^ 
' -i^ pears, it is customary among the common 
people to sing a Christmas carol, which is a 
•song upon the birth of our Saviour, and gene^ 
rally sung with some * others, from the nativity 
till the twelfth day, the continuance of Christ- 
mas. It comes, they say, from cantare, to sing, 
•and rola, which is an interjection of joy : For 
in ancient times, the burden of the song, when 
men were merry, was rola, rola. 

This kind of songs is of an ancient stand- 
ing : they were sung early in the church it- 
self, in memory of the nativity, as the many 
Hymns for that season manifestly declare; 
Tertiillian says, ^j^* it was customary among 
\the Christians, at their feasts, to bring those 
Vho were able to sing, into the midst, and 

N 3 make 

* Such are tAe new year'^s songs, and that whose burden is Aa^^ 
mena. The word hagmena is the same as ImgiameenCy or the hol^ 
month, Angli, says Hospinnlan, halegmonath, quasi sacrum men- 
sem voca % Hosp. de Orig. Eth. P. 81. 

f Ut qiisisque de scripturis Sanctis vel de proprio ingenio potest, 
provocatur in medium Deo cantare. Tertu/, Advefs, Gent, C 39. 

1 






182 



The Antiquities of^ &c. 



m^ke them sing a song unto GOD; either out 
of the holy Scripture, or of their own compoi^ 
jng and invention. And as this was done u^ 
their feasts, so no doubt it was observed at tht 
great feast of the nativity ; which song, no 
question of it, was to them what the Christ- 
mas carrot should be to us. }p after ages, we 
have it also taken notice of: For Durand tells 
us, * That on the day of the nativity, it was 
usual for the bishops of soni^ churches to sing 
among their plergy, in the episcopal house, 
which song was undoubtedly a phristmas' carol. 
The reason of tliis custom seems to be an 
imitation pf the Gloria in Excthisy or Glory 
he to GOl) 0^ high^ &c. which was sung by 
the angels, as rhey l^overed over the fields of 
Methlehem^ in the morning of the nativity. For 
even that song, as the learned Bishop Taylor 
observes, was a Christmas-carol. " As soon,"' 
^ay§ lie, " ^s tbe3e blessed choristers had sung 
" their Christmas-carol^ and taught the church 
*' a hymn, tp ppt into her offices for ever, in. 
^' the anniversary of this festivity ; the angek' 

«&p." ^' ^ ' ' '' " ' ^ ' ;'' 

Was this performed with that reverer^^ 

and decency which are due to a song of ''"^^ 

nature, in honour of the nativity, and o^^^y 

to 



^ In quibusds^n qupqu^ locis.— -— In natali prae'/*^ ^^^ ^^^ 
clericis ludant, vel m domibus episcopalibus : Ita ut ('^^°^ descend- 
ant.— Ad cantus. Durand. RaU Lib, 6. C. 86. S, i • 



Observations, &c. 183 

to our Lord, it would be very commendable; 
but to sing it, as is generally done, in the midst 
of rioting, and chambering ^ and wantonness, 
is no honour, but disgrace ; no glory, but an 
affront to that holy season, a scandal to reli- 
gion, and a sin agamst Christ. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE subsequent specimen of a very curious 
carol in the Scotch language, preserved in 
*' Ane compendious booke of godly and spirituall 
" sangs, Edinburgh, 1621. printed from an old 
" copj;^" v/ill, I flatter myself, be thought apre- 
cioif^ relljue by those who have a taste for the lite- 
rary antiquities of this island. 

Ane sang of the birth of Christ : 
With the tune of haw lula law, 
(Angelus, ut opinor, loquitur.) 

I come from Hevin to tell. 
The best nowellis that ever befell ; 
To yow thir tythings trew I bring. 
And I will of them say * and sing. 

N 4 TWs 

* The word " say" is happily used here. The author, who^ 
ever he has been, has d(^aU much more ir. r,7.;"*y tlian in singing. 
He is indeed the veriest coast-sailer that ever ventured Gut into the 
perilous ocean of verse I 



iff 



J84 Observations on 

This day to yow is borne ane childCj 
pf Marie meike and virgine mylde. 
That hlissit harm bining and kynde 
Sail yow rejoyce baith heart and mynd. 

My saull and lyfe stand up and see 
Quha lyes in ane crihe of tree^ 
Quhat babe is that so gude and faire ? 
It is Christ, God's Sonne and Aire, 

O God that made all creature. 
Mow art thou becum so pure. 
That on the hay and stray will \y^^ 
Amang the asses^ oxin^ and kye I 

O iny deir liert, zoung Jesus sweit^ 
Prepare thy creddil in my spreit^ 
And I sail rocke thee in my hert. 
And never mair from thee depart. 

But I sail praise thee ever moir 
With sangs sweit unto thy gloir, 
The knees of my hert sail I boxi\ 
And sinff that richt balulalow ** 



It 



* The Rev. Mr Lamb, m his entertaining notes on the oH 
]poem on the Battle of Flodden Field, tells us, that the nurse's lul- 
laby song, ba/oiu, (or " he balelow,") is literally French. " He 
<* bas I la le loup !" that is, Aus/i ! there's the wolf I 

An etymologist, with a tolerable inventive fancy, might easily 
persuade himself that the song usually sung in dandling children 
in Sandgate^ the Wapping or Billingsgate of the north, " a you 
** A hinny" (Cantilena barbara si quae sit alia) is nearly of a simi- 
lar signification with the ancient eastern mode of saluting kings, viz. 
** Live for ever," a, aa^ or aaa^ in Anglo-Saxon, signifies ^br ever. 
See Benson's Vocab. 

The good women of the district above named are not a little 
famous for their powers in a certain female mode of declamation^ 

vulgarW 



Chapter XV. 185 

It is hardly credible that such a composition a? 
this should ever have been thought serious. The 
author has left a fine example in the art of sinkings 
Had he desig7ied to have rendered his subject ri* 
diculous, he could not more effectually have made 
it so ; and yet we will absolve him from having 
had the smallest degree of any such intention ! 

In the Office where this work is printed, thero 
is preserved an hereditary collection of ballads, nu-» 
merous almost as the celebrated one of Fepys, — 
Among these (the greatest part of which is worse 
than trash) I find several carols for this season ; 
for the Nativity, St Stephen's day, Childermasa 
■day, &c. with Alea:ander and the king of Egypt, 2> 
mock play, usually acted about this time by mirni* 
Tners. The stile of them all is so puerile and simple^ 
that I cannot think it would be worth the pains to 
invade the hawkers' province, by exhibiting any 
specimens of them. — -The conclusion of this bom* 
basticpfoy I find in Ray's Collection of Proverbs; 

" Bounce * buckram, velvet's dear, 
** Christmas comes but once a-year j 

Ana 

fvulgarly called scolding. A common menace tiiey use to each 
other is, " I'll make a holy Byson of you." Bifene, A. Sax, 
is example : So that this evidently alludes to the penitential act o£ 
standing in a white sheet before the congregation, which a certain 
set of delinquents are enjoined to perform. — Thus the Gentle Shep- 
herd, a beautiful Scotch pastoral : 

— — *' I'll gar ye stand 
" Wee a het face before the Aali/ band,'''* 

* Mr Blount tells us, that in Yorkshire and our other northeta 
J>arts, they have an old custom, after sermon or service on Christ- 
mas day, the people will, even in the churches, cry, Ule Ule, as a to- 
ken of rejoicing, and the comiROQ sort rum about the streets^ singings 

Ule 



m 



186 Observations^ Sec. 

** And when it comes, it brings good cheer * : 
" But when it's gone, it's never the near." 

Dr Johnson tells us, that thejwo2AS Chansons^ a 
kind of Christmas carol^ containing some Scrip, 
ture History, thrown into loose rhimes, were sung 
about the streets by the common people, when 
they went at that season to beg alms. 

Hamlet, Appendix Vol. VIII. 

CHAP- 

Uie,Uie,Uie,Ule, 
Three puddings in a pule. 
Crack nuts and cry U/e, 
Hearne gives us these lines from Robert of Glocester. 
** Bounce buckram, &c." seems to be an apology offered for th© 
badness or coarseness of the mummer'^ s clothes : The moral reflec- 
tions that follow are equally new and excellent ; the " Carpe Diem'* 
of Horace is included in them, and if I mistake not the good advice 
is seldom thrown away. 

* There is an old proverb preserved in Ray's Collection, which I 
think is happily expressive of the great doings, as we say, or g4>od 
eating on this festival : 

** Blessed be St Stephen, there's no fast upon his evei\." 
Thus also another : 

'' It is good to cry Vie at other men's costs." 
I shall add a third \ 'tis Scotch : 

" A Tule-feast may be quit at Pasche." That is, one good 
turn deserves another. 
In the Collection of old Scotch Ballads above-mentioned, there is 
a hunting song, in which the author runs down Rome with ^>c4t 
fury. I subjoin a specimen : 

The hunter is Christ, that hunts in haist, 

The hunds are Peter and Paul j 
The paip is the fo<, Rome is the ror, 
That rubbis us on the gall. 
Indulgencies are alluded to in a comical thought in the following^ 
stanza : 

" He had to sell the Tantonie bell. 

And pardons therein was, 
Remission of sins in auld sheep skinnis 
Our sauls to brincr from grace." 
These, which are by no means golden verses, seem well adapted 
to the poverty of our ancient wooden churches ! Yet have we no 
cause of exultation, so long as David's Psalms travesty by Stern^ 
hold, are retained in our religious assemblies. 



The Antiquities, &c. 



187 



CHAP. XVL 

Of New-Years Days ceremonies. The NeW" 
years-gift an harmless custom : wishing a 
good New-year no way sinfuL Mumming, 
a custom which ought to be laid aside. 

AS the vulgar are always very careful to 
end the old year well, so they are also 
careful of beginning well the new one: As 
they end the former with a hearty compota- 
tion, so they begin the latter with the sending 
of presents, which are termed Nfiw-Year's Gifts, 
to their friends and acquaintances : The origi- 
nal of both which customs is ^ superstitious 
and sinful ; and was observed that the succeed- 
ing year might be prosperous and successful. 

" Bishop \ Stillingfleet tells us, That a* 
** mong the Saxons of the northern nations, 
** the feast of the new-year was observed 
" with more than ordinary jollity ; Thence, as 
" Olaus Wormius and Scheffer observe, they 
" reckoned their age by so many J Jolas; 
" and Snorro Sturleson. describeth this New- 



(6 



years 



* Et sxc quidem annum veteFem terminamus, novumque auspi- 
camur, inauspicatis prorsus dirisque auspiciis. Hosp» de Orig. Fest. 
Christ, P. 41. 

f Orig, Brit, P, 343. 

t lola in the Gothie ianguage signifies to mgke merry. Stilfing^ 
ibid. 



1S8 The Antiquities of 

'^ year's feast, just as Buchanan sets out the 
" British saturnalia^ by feasting and sending 
" presents, or new-year's gifts, one to another/' 

The poet Naogeorgiis says, * That it was 
usual at that time, for friends to present each 
other with a new-year's gift ; for the husband, 
the wife; the parents, their children; and 
masters, their servants ; which, as -f Hospini-^ 
an tells us, was an ancient custom of the Hea- 
thens, and afterwards practised by the Chris* 
tians. 

And no doubt those Christians were highly 
worthy of censure, whu imagined, as the Hea- 
thens did, that the sending of a present then, 
was any way lucki/^ and an omen of the suc- 
cess of the following year. For this was the 
very thing that made both several holy men, 
and some general councils, take notice of, and 
forbid any such custom ; because the obser- 
vance of it, out of any such design and riew, 
was superstitious and sinful. We are told, in 

a 

* Jani— — ^Calcndls, 
Atque etiam strenae charis mittuntur amicit ; 
Gonjugibusq. viri donant, gnatisq. parentef, 
%t domini famulis, &c. 

Hosp. de Orig, Fest. Christ, P. 4i| 
^ Ho spin, ibidi. 



The Common People. 18.9 

& place 6f St Austin, * the observation of the 
calends of January is forbid, the songs which 
Were wont to be sung on that day, the feast- 
ings, and the presents which were then sent a$ 
a token and omen of a good year. But to 
send a present at that time, out of esteem, or 
gratitude, or charity, is no where forbid : ou 
the contrary, it is praise-worthy. For though 
the t ancient fathers did vehemently inveigh 
against the observation of the calends of JanU" 
ari/ ; yet it was not because of those presents, 
and tokens of muual affection and love that 
passed ; but because the day itself was dedi- 
cated to idols, and because of some profane 
rites and ceremonies they observed in solem- 
nizing it. If then I send a new-year^s gift to 
my friend, it shall be a token of my friendship ; 
if to my benefactor, a token of my gratitude ; 
if to the poor (which at this time must never 
be forgot) it shall be to make their hearts sing 

for 

^ Citatur locus ex Augustino, in quo prsecipitur, ne observentu^ 
Tialendae Januarii^ in quibus cantilenge quaedam, & comniessatione*^ 
& ad invicem dona donentur, quasi in principio anni, boni fati a)fr- 
gurio. Hosp, de Orig, Fest. Christ, in Fest. Jan, 

f In calendas Januarias antiqui patres vehemeutius inveheban.- 
tur, non propter istas missitationes adinvicem, & mutui amoris pig- 
nora, sed propter diem idolis dicatum : Propter ritus quosdam pro- 
fanos, & sacrileges in ilia solsnnitate adhibitos. M«untaciit, Orig. 
Eccles. Pars Prior. P. 128. 



190 Ihe AntiquiticB oj 

for joy, and give praise and adoration td tht 
giver of all good gifts. 

Another old custom at this time, is the wish- 
ing of a good new-year^ either when a new- 
year's gift is presented, or when friends meet, 
or when a new-year s song is sung at the door ; 
the burden of which is, we wish you a happy 
new-year. 

This is also a custom among the modern 
Jews^ who, on the first day of the month * 
Tisri^ have a splendid -f- entertainment, and 
wish each other a happy new-year. 

Now the original of this custom is Heathen- 
ish, as appears by the feasting and presents be- 
fore mentioned, which were a wish for a good 
year. And it was customary among the Heath- 
ens, on the calends of January^ to go about and 
sing a new-years song. Hospinian therefore 
tells us. That X when night comes on, not only 

the 

* " The month Tisn, was the seventh month according to the 
*' Jews sacred computation, and therefore it is commanded to be 
** celebrated the first day of the seventh month, Lev. xxiii. 24. But 
** according to their civil computation, it was their first month ; so 
** that feast may be termed their new-year's day." Goodw. Antiq. 
Lib. 3. Cap. 7. 

f Reperiunt mensam dulcissimis cibis instnictam : Ei cum asse- 
derint, quivis partem de cibis illis sumit, & annus, inquit, bonus &■ 
dulcis sit nobis omnibus. Hosp, de Test. Orig. P. 54. 

% Discurrunt namque noctu, tarn senes quam juvcnes promiscui 
sexus, cantantes prae foribus divitum, quibus faelicem annum cai»- 
tando precantur & optant. Hospin, ds Orig, Fest. Jan, 



The Common People. 191 

the young, but also the old of both sexes, run 
about here and there, and sing a song at the 
doors of the wealthier people, in which they 
wish them a happy new-year. This he speaks 
indeed of the Christians, but he calls it an exact 
copy of the Heathens' custom. 

But however I cannot see the harm of re- 
taining this ancient ceremony, so it be not used 
superstitiously, nor attended with obscenity 
and lewdness. For then there will be no more 
in it, than an hearty wish for each other's wel- 
fare and prosperity ; no more harm, than wish- 
ing a good day, or good night ; than in bidding 
one GOD speed ; or than in wishing to our 
friend, what Abraham's servant did to himself, 

* LORD GOD of my ma^iter Abraham, 

1 pray thee send me good speed this day. 
There is another custom observed at this 

time, which is called among us mumming ; 
which is a changing of clothes between men 
and women ; who, when dressed in each other's 
habits, go from one neighbour's house to ano- 
ther, and partake of their Christmas cheer ^ and 
make merry with them in disguise, by dancing, 
and singing, and such like merriments. 

This t is an imitation of the customs of the 
sigillaria^ or festival days which were added 

tQ 

* Gen. xxiv. 12. 
•f* Hoc prorsus fit ad imitationem ludorum siglllarlum, oscillarium 
& occillatorum, qui pars erat saturnaUorum. & circa mensem Ja- 



192 The Anliquities of 

to the ancient * saturnalia^ and obserred by 
the Heathens in January ; which was a going 
in disguise, not publicly, or to any indifferent 
place ; but privately, and to some well known 
families. 

This kind of custom received a deserved 
blow from the church, and was taken notice of 
in the synod t of Trullus ; where it was de- 
creed, that the days called the calends^ should 
be entirely striped of their ceremonies, and 

the 

fiuanum passim in domibus privatim, non publice, ciercebantur in- 
ter familias. Hosp, de Orig, is'c, 

" * The original of the Saturnalia^ as to the time, is unknown ^ 
** Macrobius assuring us, that it was celebrated in liaiy long be- 
"• fore the building of Rome, The story of Saturn, in whose hon- 
*' our it was kept, every body is acquainted with. As to the man- 
*• ner of the solemnity, besides the sacrifices and other parts of 
" public worship, there were several lesser observations worth our 
" notice. As first, the liberty now allowed to servants to be free 
•* and merry with their masters, so often alluded to in authors- 
•* 'Tis probable this was done in memory of the liberty enjoyed ia 
** the golden age, under Saturn, before the names of ser\'ant and 
** master were known to the world. Besides this, they sent pre- 
** sents to one another, among friends. No war was to be proclaim- 
*♦ ed, and no offender executed. The schools kept a vacation, and 
^ nothing but mirth and freedom was to be met with in the city. 
" They kept at first only one day, the fourteenth of the kalends of- 
^ January -, but the number was afterwards increased to three, four, 
"'five, and some say seven days." Kennet, Rom, Antiq. p, 9&. 

^ Can. TrulL 62. Bah 435. 



The Antiquities^ &c. J 93 

the faithful should no longer observe them : 
That the public dancings of women should 
cease, as being the occasion of much harm and 
ruin, and as being invented and observed in ho- 
nour of their gods, and therefore quite averse 
to the Christian life. They therefore decreed, 
that no man should be cloathed with a woman's 
garment, no woman with a man's. 

It were to be wished this custom, which is 
still so common among us at this season of the 
year, was laid aside, as it is the occasion of 
much * uncleanness and debauchery, and di- 
rectly opposite to the word of God. -fThe wo^ 
man shall not wear that which pertaineth unto 
a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's 
garment ; for all that do so, are abominationt 
unto the LORD thy GOD. 

* Hoc autem, quum noctu fiat, nemini dubium esse debet, quin 
sub hoc praeteytu, multa obscaeua & turj^ia perpetrantur siiiiul/ 
Hasp, de Orig, Fest, 41. 

f Deut. xxii. 



o OB- 



f, 



194 Observations on 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XVL 

Turhafrequens i2imfundit pia vota Kalendis 
Ut novus exacto faustior Aniius eat. 

Buchanan, 

IN the ancient Saturnalia *, there were frequent 
and luxurious feastings amongst friends ; pre- 
sents were sent mutually, and changes of dress 
made. Christians have adopted the same customs, 
which continue to be used from the nativity to 
the epiphany, Feastings are frequent during the 
whole time, and we send what are called new 
year's gi&?> t : Exchanges of dress too, as of old 
among the Romans, are common, and neighbours, 
by mutual invitations, visit each other in the man- 
ner which we Germans call mummery : So writes* 
the Author of the Convivial Antiquities, and adds, 
as the heathens had their Saturnalia in December, 

their 

* Ut olim in Saturnalibus frequentes, luxuriosgeque ccenationes 
inter Amicos fiebant, munera ultro citroque missitahantur^ Vestium 
mutationes fiebant, ita hodie etiam apud nos Christianos eadem fieri 
videmus a natalibus Dominicis usque ad festium Epiphanije, quod 
in Januario celebratur : Hoc enim tempore omni et crebro ^conviva- 
mur et Strenas, hoc est, ut nos vocamus, Novi anni Donaria .missita- 
mus. Eodem tempore mutationes 'uestium, ut apud Romano'S quon- 
dam, usurpantur, vicinlque ad vie: nos, invitati hac ratione com meant, 
quod nos Germ^ni mummerey vocamus. 

Antiquitat. Convivial.. 126. 

f Strence usnsprimo die anni, Romanorum yeterum est inventum 
—Suetonius in Augusto. Deprav. Rel. 164. 



Chapter XVL 193 

their Sigillaria in January, and the Lupercalia and 
Bacchanalia in February ; so amongst Christians 
these three months are devoted to feastings and 
revelHngs of every kind *. 

There was an ancient t custom, (I know not 
whether it be not jo^t retained in many places :) 
Young women went about with a wassail-bowl^ 
that is, a bowl of spiced ale on new year's eve, 
with ^ome sort of verses that were sung by them in 

O 2 going 

* Johannes Boemus Aubanus tells us, " Calendis Januarii, quo 
" tempore et Annus & omnis computatio nostra inclioatur, Cogna- 
" tus cognatum, Amicus amicum accedunt^ & consertis mamhu.^ 
" invicem in novum Annum prosperitatem imprecantur, diemque 
" ilium festiva congratulation e &. compotatione deducunt. Tunc 
" etiam ex avita consuetudiiie ultro citroque munera mittuntur, quce 
" a Saturnalibus, quae eo tempore celebrantur a Romanis, Saturna- 
" lltia, a Grsecis Apophoreta dicta sunt. Hunc morem anno supe- 
" riori ego ita versificavi :" 

Christe patris verbum, &c. 
Nataiemque tuiim celebrantes octo diehus^ 
Concinimus laudem, perpetuumque decus. 
Atque tuo exemplo moniti munuscula notis, 
Aut CaprufTi pinguem mittimus, aut leporem^ 
Aut his liba damus signis & wiagine pressa, 
Mittimus aut Calathis aurea inula decern^ 
Aurea mala decem, biixo cristata virenti, 
Et variis caris rebus aromaticis. 

P. 265. 
■f- There are allusions to some other obsolete rites at this time iii 
pope Zecharias' interdiction of them, preserved in the Convivial 
Antiquities. " Si quis calendas Januarii i^itu KtJinicoruDi colere, 
" ut aliquid plus Jiovi facere propter novum annum ^ aut mens as cuni 
" lampadihus^ vcl epulas in domihus pr<^parare, et per -vicos et 
'•'' plateas cantaiores et choreas ducere aususfuerit, Anathema sxt^'^ 

Antiquit. Conviv. p. 1-2 G. 
In Trusler's Chronology, A. D. 1193, we are told, *• Foo/s^ 
*' Festival f)^, at Paris, held January 1st, and continued for 240 years, 
*' when all sorts of absurdities and indecencies v.-ere committed." 

Mr Pennant tells u>?, that the Highlanders on nevj year'^s daij^ 
burnt juniper before tlTrcir cattle, and on the {^x^i\ Monday in evetf 
quarter, sprinUe them with urine. 



196 



Observaiions on 



going about from door to door. Wassail is deriv-- 
ed from the Anglo. Sax. w^r.P^U ^^^^^ i^? " ^^ ^^^ 
^' health." They accepted little presents from the 
houses they stopped at. — Mr Selden thus alludes 
to it in his Table Talk, Art. Pope. " The pope in 
" sending relics to princes, does as wmclies do by 
" their wassels at new yearns tide. — They present 
" you with a cup^ and you must drink of a slahhy 
*' stuff; but the meaning is, you must give them 
" money ^ ten times more than it is worth." 

Stow has preserved an account of a remarkable 
mummery^ 1377, " made by the citizens for dis- 
" port of the young prince Richard, sonne to the 
" Black Prince." 

On the Sunday before Candlemas in the night, 
130 citizens disguised and ivell horsed^ in a mum- 
rnery^ with sound of trumpets^ sackhuts, cornets^ 
shalmes and other minstrels^ and innumerable torch 
lights of wax, rode to Kennington, besides Lam- 
beth where tlie young prince was. 

In the 1st rank, 48 in likeness and habit of 
esquires, two and two together, clotlied in red 
coats and gowns of say or sendall, with comely \'u 
zors on their faces. 

After them came 48 knights, in the same live- 
ry : Then followed one richly arrayed, like an 
emperor ; and after him some distance, one state- 
ly tyred like a Pope, who was followed by 24 car- 
dinals : and ai'ter them eight or ten with black 
vizors, not amiable^ as if they had been legates 
from some forraigne princes. 

These maskers^after they had entered the man- 
nor of Kennington, alighted from their horses, 

and 



Chapter XVI. ]97 

and entered the liall on foot ; which done, the 
prince, his mother and the lords, came out of the 
chambers into the hall, whom the mummers did 
salute ; shewing by a pair of dice on the table, 
their desire to play with the young prince \ which 
they so handled^ that the prince did alwaies winne, 
when he cast at them. 

Then the mummers set to the prince three 
jewels, one after another ; which were, a boule 
of gold, a cup of gold, and a ring of gold, which 
the prince "wanne at three casts. Then they set 
to the prince's mother, the duke, the earles and 
other lords, to every one a ring of gold, which 
they did also win. After which they were feast- 
ed, and the music sounded, the prince and lords 
danced on the one part with the mummers, who 
did also dance ; which jollity being ended, they 
were again made to drink, and then they depart- 
ed in order as they came. 

The like he says was to Henry the 4th — in the 
2d year of his reign, he then keeping his Christ- 
mas at Eltham, twelve aldermen of London, and 
their sonnes, rode in a mumming^ and had great 
flianks. 

We read in Fabian's Chronicle, Temp. Henry 
4th : — " In whiche passe tyme the Dukys of Am- 
" narle, of Surrey, and of Exetyr, with the Earlys- 
^' of Salesbury, and of Gloucetyr, with other of 
'' their afiynyte made provysyon for a disgaysynge^ 
" or a mummynge^ to be shewyd to the kynge up- 
'' on twelfethe nyght, and the tyme w^as nere at 
" hande, and all thynge redy for the same. Up^. 
" jon the sayd twelfethe day, came secretlye unto 

3 '^t\\% 



\ .^ ; 



198 



Observations, &c. 



" the kynge, the Duke of Amiiarle, and shewyd 
" to him, that he wyth the other Lordys afore- 
^' named, were appointed to sk hym in the time 
" of the fore sayd dysguysynge, &c.'' Fol. 169. 

This mumming * had like to have proved a very 
5mow5 jest ! 

Mr Bourne seems to " carry coals to Newcas- 
tle,'* when he attempts to prove that it is no way 
sinful to wish each other a good new year. That 
person carried his scruples methinks very far, 
who first doubted concerning the lawfulness of tliis 
ceremony. — If the benevolent can thus hardly be 
saved, how shall the malicious and the envious 



appear 



CHAP. 



* Mummer signifies a masker ; one disguised under a vizard j 
from the Danish mumme, or Dutch momme. Lipsius tells us, in 
Ills 44th Epistle, Book III. " that momar, -which is used by the 
'* Sicilians for a fool^ signifies in French, and in our language, a 
" person with a mask on.'''' See Lye's Junii Etymolog. in verbo. 

The very ingenious Scotch -writer, Buchanan, presented to t)ie 
unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots the following singular kind of 
new-year'* s gift. History is silent concerning the manner in which 
her majesty received it. 

Ad Mariam Scotije Reginam : 
Do quod adest : opto quod abest tibi, dona darentur 
Aurea, Sors animo si foret aequa meo. 
Hoc leve si credis, paribus me ulciscere donis : 
Et (jucd abest ^ opta tu mihi : da quod o^J^'^f 



The Antiquities, &c. 199 

CHAP. XV 

Of the Twelfth Day ; how observed: The 
zmckedness of observing the twelve days af* 
ter the common way. 

/^N the Epiphany, or manifestation of 
^^ Christ to if^e Gentiles, commonly called 
tiie twelfth-daj^, the eastern magi were guided 
by the star to pay their homage to their Savi- 
our ; and because they came that day, which is 
the twelfth after the day of the nativity, it is 
therefore called the twelfth day. 

The twelfth day itself is one of the greatest 
of the twelve, and of more jovial observation 
than the others, for the visiting of friends and 
Christmas-gambols. The rites of this day are 
different in divers places, though the end of 
them is much the same in all ; namely, to do ho- 
nour to the memory of the eastern magi, whom 
they suppose to have been kings. In ^ France, 
one of the courtiers is chosen king, whom the 
king himself, and the other nobles, attend at 
an entertainment. In Germany, they observe 
the same thing on this day in academies, and 
cities, where the students and citizens create 
one of themselves king, and provide a magni- 
O 4 ficent 

* In Gallia unus ex mlnistris, &c. — Idem in Germania^ & y 
Hospin. in Epiphan, 



SOO The Antiquities of 

ficent banquet for him, and give him the at- 
tendance of a king^ ov 2i strangei' guest. Now 
this is answerable to that custom of the satur- 
nalia, of masters making banquets for their 
servants^ and waiting on them ; and no doubt 
this custom has in part sprung from that. 

Not many years ago, this was a common 
Christmas gambol in both our universities ; and 
it is still usual in other places of our land, to 
give the name of king or queen to that person, 
whose extraordinary luck hits upon that part 
of the divided cake, which is honoured above 
the others, with a beari in it. 

But though this be generally the greatest of 
the t\yelve, yet the others preceding are ob- 
served with mirth and joUity, generally to ex- 
cess. Was this feasting confined within the 
bounds of decency and moderation, and gave 
more way than it does to the exercises and the 
religious duties of the season, it would have 
nothing in it immoral or sinful. The keeping 
up of friendship, and love, and old acquain- 
tance, has nothing in it harmful ; but the mis- 
fortune is, men, upon that bottom, act rather 
like brutes than men, and like Heathens than 
Christians; and the preservation of friendship 
and love, is nothing else but a pretence for 
drunkenness, and rioting, and wantonness. And 
such I am afraid hath been the observation of 
the Christmas holidays, since the hohest 



The Common People, 201 

times of the Christian church ; and the gene- 
rality of men have rather looked upon them, as 
a * time of eatii^arid drinking, and playing, 
than of returning praises and thanksgivings to 
God, for the greatest benefit he ever bestowed 
upon the sons of men. 

Gregory Nazianzen^ in that excellent oration 
of his upon Christmas-day, says, Let us not 
celebrate the feast after an earthly, but an hea- 
venly manner ; let not our doors be crowned ; 
let not dancing be encouraged ; let not the 
cross-paths be adorned, the eyes fed, nor the 
ears delighted, ^c. Let us not feast to excess, 
nor be drunk with wine, ^^c. From this we 
may clearly see, what has been the custom in 
these days. And in all probability it has been 
much the same among us, from the beginning 
of Christianity : However fabulous that story 
may be, taken notice of by f Bishop Stilling'" 
fleet y from Hector Boethius, " That king Ar^ 
" tliur kept with his nobles at York, a very 
P profane Christmas for J thirteen days toge- 

" ther, 

* Vide Bishop BlackaWs sermon on the Lawfulness and the 
right manner of keeping Christmas and other Christian festivals. 

f Origin. Britan. Stilling. 

% Christmas-day is said to be none of the twelve days, but one 
of the twenty. For if it was added, it would make thirteen days, 
which are the thirteen days here mentioned. It is said to be 
»ne of the twenty days, because, as I imagine, it was reckoned 

among 



202 The Antiquities of 

" ther, and that such jolhty and feasting then, 
" had its original from him." But however, 
these words, if true, may be a testimony of the 
too great antiquity of the abuse of this festi- 
val ; yet they will by no means justify Bw- 
chanans comment upon them. For as the 
learned Bishop goes on, " Buchanan is so 
" well pleased with this notable observation, 
'' that he sets it down for good history, saying 
" upon it, that the old Saturnalia were re- 
" newed, only the days increased, and Saturn s 
" name changed to Ccesar's : For, says he, 
" we call the feast Julia, But why should 
" the name of Saturn be changed into Ctf- 
" sars ? Was he worshipped as a God among 
" the British Christians, as Saturn was among 
" the old Pagans ? But the name Julia im- 
" ports it ; by no means. For Buchanan 
" does not prove, that this name was ever used 
" for that festival among the Britains ; and the 
" Saao7is, who brought in both the name and 
*' the feast, give another * reason for it." 

Bu^ 

among those twepty days in which the church forbade fasting. 
For in the laws of Canutus, it is ordered, f That no man shall 
fast from Christmas-day, till after the octave of the epiphany y ex- 
cept he do it out of choice, or it be commanded him of the priest. 
* Vide Chap. Christ. Candle. 



f Atque ab ipso natali Jesu Christi die ad octavam ad epiphania 
fucem, jejunia nemo observato, nisi quidam judicio ac voluntate fc- 
cent sua, aut id ei fuerit a sacerdote imperatum. Scld. Anafrcl. 
fib. 2. P. 108. 



The Common People. 203 

Buchanaii seems therefore to have a great 
deal more maUce than truth on his side. But 
however such reveUings, and frohcs, and extra- 
vagances, whether or not derived from the old 
Saturnalia, as are customary at this season, do 
come very near to, if not exceed its hberties. In 
particular, what commoner, at this season, than 
fo7^ men to rise early in the morning, that they 
may follow strong di^ink, and continue un- 
til night, till wine inflame them ^ As if 
CHRIST, who came into the world to save usy 
and was manifested to destroij the works of 
the devil ; was to be honoured with the very 
A\orks he came to destroy. 

With some, Christmas ends with the twelve 
days, but with the generality of the vulgar, 
yiot till Candlemas, Till then they continue 
feasting, and are ambitious of keeping some of 
their Christmas-chear, and then are fond of 
getting quit of it. Durand tells us, * they 
celebrated this time with joy, because the in- 
carnation of Christ was the occasion of joy 
to angels and men. But the lengthening of 
the time from twelve to forty days, seems to 
have been done out of honour to the Virgin 
Mary's lying in : Under the old law, the 
time of purification was forty days, which 

was 

* Hanc quadragessimam cum gaudio celebramus, quia Christ! 
incarnatio fuit gaudium angelorum &. hominum. Diirand. Lib. 6. 
C. 22. 



204 Observations on 

was to women then, what the month is to wo* 
men now. And as daring that time, the 
friends and relations of the women, pay them 
visits, and do them abundance of honour ; so 
this time seems to have been calculated to do 
honour to the virgin's lying in. 

There is a canon in the Council of Trullus, 
* against those who baked a cake in honour of 
the virgin's lying in, in which it is decreed, 
that no such ceremony should be observed ; 
because it was otherwise with her, at the birth 
of our Saviour, than with all other women. 
She suffered no pollution, and therefore needed 
no purification, but only in obedience to the 
law : If then the baking of a single cake was 
faulty, how much more so many feasts in her 
honour ? 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE subsequent extract from Collier's Eccle- 
siastical History, Vol. I. p. 163. seems to 
account in a satisfactory manner for the name of 
txvelfth day, " In the days of King Alfred, a law 
^' was made with relation to holidays, by virtue 

of 

* Can, 80. TruL BaK 



Chapter XVII. 205 

** of which the twelve days after the nativity of 
*<^ our Saviour were made festivals/' 

In the ancient calendar of the Romish church 
above cited, I find in an * observation on the fifth 
of January, the vigil of the epiphany, " Kings 
" created or elected by beans.'^ The sixth is 
called there, " The festival of kings ;" and there 
is added, " That this ceremony of electing kings 
" was continued with feasting for many days." 

There was a custom similar to this on the fes- 
tive days of Saturn among the Romans, Grecians^ 
he. Persons of the same rank drew lots for 
kingdoms^ and, like kings, exercised their tem- 
porary authority. Alex, ab Alex. B. 2. ch. 22, 
The learned t Morsein observes, that our cere- 
mony of chusing a king on the epiphany, or feast 
of the three kings, is practised about the same 
time of the year. — He is called the bean king from 
the lot. 

This custom is practised no where that I know 
of in the northern parts of the kingdom, but is 
still retained in the South t. 

I ga.ther 

* Reges fabis creantur. 
And on the sixth day of January, 
Fcstum regum 

(as also) 
Regna atque epuice in multos dies exercentur, 
f Regna sortiri inter aequales festis Saturni diebus & tanquam 
reges imperitare mos fuit, qui etiam Romanis, cum Grsecis et ex- 
teris communis fuit. Circa idem tempus inter sequales, regis fit 
clectio ad epiphaniae nostrae, seu trium regum festum, et Rexfaba- 
ceus dicitur, ex sorte nomen habens. Moresin. Deprav. Rel. p. 
143. 

X I find also in Joannes Boemus Aubanus' Description of some 
singular Rites in Franconia, in Germany, the following circumstan- 
tial description of this ceremony : 

" In Epiphania Domini singulce familiee ex tne He farina, addito 
" Zin%ibere et pipere, libum conjiciunt ft Regent sibi legunt hoc 

*' modo : 



206 Observations on 

I gather the present manner of drawing king 
and queen on this day, from an ingenious letter 
preserved in the Universal Magazine, 1774, 
whence I shall take the liberty to extract a few 
select passages. " I went to a friend's house ^in 
" the country to partake of some of those inno- 
" cent pleasures that constitute a merry Christ- 
" mas ; I did not return till I had been present 
" at drawing king and queen^ and eaten a sUce of 
" the hvelfth cake^ made by the fair hands of my 
" good friend's consort. After tea yesterday, a 
" noble cake was produced, and two bonis, contain- 
" ing the fortunate chances for the different sexes. 
" Our host Jilled up the tickets ; the whole com- 
" pany, except the king 2i\\& queen, were to be mi- 
*' nisters of state, vmids of honour, or ladies of the 
" bed-chamber. 

« Our 

" raodo : Lihum mater famllias facit^ cui absque consideratione in- 
*' tcr subigondiim denarhtm unum imniittit, po^tea amoto ignc su- 
" pra calidum fucum illud torrefy tostum in tot partes frangil^ quot 
*' homines familla habet : dLinum distribuit, cuique partem unaim- 
*' trihuens. Adsignantur etiam Christo^ beat^que Virgini &. tri- 
" Ijus magis sua? partes, qux loco eleemos\niae elargiuntur. In 
*' cujus autem portlone denarius repertus fuerit, hie rex ab omni- 
" bus salutatus, in sedem locatur et tcr in altum cum jubilo eleva- 
*' tur : ipse in dextera cretam habet, qua totics signum crucis su- 
^ pra in triclinii laqueariis delineat : quai cruoes quod obstare 
" plurimis malis credantur, in multa observatione habentur." p. 
266. 

Here -vve have the materials of the cake, uhich are flour, honey, 
ginger, and peppery one is made for every family. The maker 
thrusts in at random a small coin as she is kneading it •, \\ hen it is 
baked, it is divided into as many ^^arts as there arc persons in the 
family. It is distributed, and each has his share 5 portions of it al^ 
so are assigned to Christ, the Virgin, and the three Magi, which are 
given away in alms. Whoever finds the piece oi coin in his share, 
is saluted by all as A///§-, and being placed on a seat or throne, is 
thrice lifted aloft with joyful acclamations : He holds a piece of 
chalk in his right hand, and each time he is lifted up, makes a 
cross on the ceiling. These crosses are thought to prevent many 
evils y and arc much revered. 



Chapter XVII. 207 

^^ Our kind host and hostess^ whether by design 
*^' or accident became king and queen. According 
*' to twelfth day law^ each party is to support their 
" character till midnight. After supper one call- 
" ed for a king^s speech^ &c." The rest is politi- 
cal satire, and is foreign to our purpose. 

I have inserted this with a view of gratifying 
the curiosity of my northern readers on this head. 



N. B. TJie reader is desired to add the following 
remarks to the observations on Yule : " All the 
" Celtic nations have been accustomed to the 
" worship of the sun ; either as distinguished 
" from Thor, or considered as his symbol : — It was 
" a custom that every where prevailed in ancient 
" times, to celebrate a feast at the winter solstice ; 
" by wliicli men testified their joy at seeing this 
" great luminary return again to this part of the 
" heavens. — This was the greatest solemnity in 
" the year. They call it in many places, yole^ or 
" yuul, from the word Maul and houl, which even 
" at this day signifies the sun^ in the languages of 
" Bass Britagne and Cornwal *." Vide Mallet^s 
NortJiem Antiquities^ Vol. II. p. QS. 

CHAP. 

* This is giving a Celtic derivation of a Gothic word (two lan- 
guages extremely different.) The learned Doctor Hickes thus 
derives the term in question. J-OL, Cimbricum, Anglo Saxonice 
scriptum, iJeol; et Dan. Sax. Jul, o in u facile mutato, ope inten- 
sivi prgefixi i et je* faciunt o/, Commessatio, Compotatio, &c. (^Isl. 
01 cerevisiam denotat et metonymice Convivium) Junii Etym. V. 
Yeol. 

Our ingenious author, however, is certainly right as to the origin 
and design of the yule feast : The Greenlanders at this day keep 
a sun feast at the winter solstice, about Dec. 22. to rejoice at the 
return of the sun, and the expected renewal of the hunting season, 
&c. which custom they may possibly have learnt of the Norwegian 
colony formerly settled in Greenland. See Crantz's Hist, of 
Greenland, Vol. I. p. 3 76. Ibid, in Not. 



208 ,The Antiquities of 

CHAP. XVIIL 

Of St Paul's Day : The observation of thr 
weather, a custom of the heathens, and 
handed down by the monks : The apostle St 
Paul himself is against such observations : 
The opinion of St Austin upon them. 

THE observation of the weather which is 
made on this day is altogether ridiculous 
and superstitious. If it happen to be uncloud- 
ed and without rain, it is looked upon as an 
omen of the following year's success, if other- 
wise, that the year will be unfortunate. Thus 
the old verse. 

Clara dies Pauli, bona tempora denotat anni, 
Sifuerint venti, denarrant prcelia gent I, 
Si nix aut pluvicB, pereunt animalia quceque. 

The interpretation of which is very well 
known to be this, 

If St Paufs day be fair and clear. 

It doth betide a happy year ; 

If blustering winds do blow aloft 

Then wars will trouble our realm full oft. 

And if it chance to snow or rain, 

Then will be dear all sorts of grain. 

Such also is the observation of St Swithin'ff 
day, which if rainy is a token that it will 
rain for forty days successively ; such is the 

obser- 



Tht Common People. 209 

observation of * Candlemas-day^ such is Chil- 
dermas-day^ such Valentines-day^ and some 
others. 

How St PauVs day came to have this parti- 
cular knack of foretellino; the sood or evil for- 
tune of the following year, is no easy matter to 
find out. The monks, who were undoubtedly 
the first who made this wonderful observation, 
have taken care it should be handed down to 
posterity, but w hy, and for what reason this ob- 
servation was to stand good, they have taken 
care to conceal. In church affairs indeed they 
make free with handing down traditions from 
generation to generation, which being approved 
by an infallible judgment, are to be taken for 
granted ; but as far as I hear, they never pre- 
tended to an infallible spirit in the study of the 
planets. One may therefore, without the sus- 
picion of heresy, or fear of the Inquisition^ 
make a little inquiry into this affair, and see 
whether it be true or false, whether it is built 
upon any reason or no reason, whether still to 
be observed, or only laughed at as a monkish 
dream. 

Now, as' it is the day of that saint, the 
great apostle St Paul, I cannot see there is any 
thing to be built upon. He did indeed labour 

P more 

* Si sol splendescat Maria purificante, 

Major erit glacies post festum quam fult ante. 



'210 The Antiquities oj 

more abundantly than all the apostles, but 
never, that I heard, in the science of Astrology. 
And why his day should therefore be a stand- 
ing almanack to the world, rather than the day 
of any other saint, will be pretty hard to find 
out. I am sure there is a good number of 
them have as much right to rain or fair wea- 
ther as St Paul ; and if St Andrew, StThotnas, 
&c. have not as much right to wind or snow, 
let the reader judge. 

As it is the twenty-fifth day oi January, one 
would think that could be no reason. For 
what is that day more than another? Indeed 
they do give some shew of reason, why rain 
should happen about the time of St Szcithin, 
which is this : About the time of his feast, 
w^hich is on the fourteenth of July, there arc 
two rainy constellations, which are called Prcc- 
cepe and Asellus, which arise cosmically, and 
generally produce rain. And to be sure in the 
course of the sign Aquarius, there may be both 
rain, and wind, and fair weather, but how these 
can foretell the destiny of the year, is the ques- 
tion 

As then there is nothing in the saint, or 
his day to prognosticate any such thing, 1 
mean, as it is the day of St Paul, or the 
twenty-fifth of January, so I must confess I 
cannot find out what may be the ground of 

this 



The Common People. 211 

this particular observation. But however, thus 
much is very obvious, that this observation is 
an exact copy of that superstitious custom a- 
mong the heathens, of observing one day as 
good, and another as bad. For among them 
were lucky and unlucky days ; some were dies 
atri, and some dies albi ; the atri were point- 
ed out in their calendar with a black character, 
the alhi with a white ; the former to denote it 
a day of bad success, the latter a day of good. 
Thus have the monks^ in the dark and unlearn- 
ed ages of popery, copied after the heathens^ 
and dreanied themselves into the like supersti- 
tions, esteemed one day more successful than 
another, and so^ according to them, it is very 
unlucky to begin any work upon Childermas- 
day ; and what day soever that falls on, whether 
on a Monday^ Tuesday^ or any other, nothing 
must be begun on that day through the year > 
St PauVs day is the year's fortune-teller^ St 
Mark's day is the prognosticator of your life 
and death, &c. and so instead of persuading 
the people to lay aside the vv^hims and fancies 
of the heathen world, they brought them sd 
effectually in, that they are still reigning in 
many places to this day. 

But of all the days of th^ year, they could 
not have chosen one so little to the purpose. 
For the very saint, whose day is so observed, 

P ^ has 



212 



TIlc Ajitiquities of 



has himself cautioned them against any such 
observation : For in the fourth chapter of his 
epistle to the Galatians, he tells them, how 
dangerous it was to observe days^ and months^ 
and times, and years ; which is not, as some 
would persuade us, to caution us against the 
observation of any day but the Lord's-day ; 
but only that we should not obsen e the abo- 
lished feasts of the Jews, nor the abominable 
feasts of the Gentiles, nor their superstitious 
observation of fortunate and unfortunate days. 
St Austin, upon this place, hath these words *, 
Let us not observe years, and months, and 
times, lest we hear the apostle telling us, I am 
afraid of you, lest I have shewn on you la- 
bour in vain. For the persons he blames, are 
those who say, I will not set forward on my 
journey, because it is the next day after such 
a time, or because the moon is so ; or Fll set 
forward that I may have luck, because such is 
just now the position of the stars. I will not 
traffic this month, because such a star presides, 
or I will, because it does. I shall plant no vines 
this year, because it is leap-year, &c. 

The learned Mr Bingham, has among se- 
veral 



* Non Itaque dies observemus, & annos & menses, & tempora, 
ne audlamus ab apostolo, timeo vos, ne forte sine causa laboraverim 
in vobis. Eos enim culpat, qui dicunt, non prc^siscaf, quia pos- 
•terus e5t, aut quia luna sic fertur, vel profisiscar, ut prospera cedant, 
i^uia ita se habet positio siderura, &c. Betia ex Augustin. in /or. 



The Common People, 213 

v^ral others, a quotation * from the same St 
Austin on these superstitious observations, with 
M'hich I shall conclude this chapter. " To 
" this kind, says he, belong all ligatures and 
" remedies, which the schools of physicians 
" reject and condemn ; whether in inchant- 
" ments, or in certain marks, which they call 
" characters, or in some other things which 
" are to be hanged and bound about the body, 
" and kept in a dancing posture ; not for any 
" temperament of the body, but for certain 
" significations, either ocult, or manifest: which 
" by a gentler name, they call physical, that 
'" they may not seem to affright men with the 
" appearance of superstition, but do good in a 
" natural way : Such are ear-rings hanged up- 
" on the tip of each ear, and rings made of aa 
" ostrich's bones for the finger ; or when you 
" are told in a fit of convulsions, or shortness 
" of breath, to hold your left thumb with your 
*' right hand. To which may be added a thou- 
**^ sand vain observations; as, if any of our 
" members beat; if when two friends are talk- 
'^ ing together, a stone, or a dog, or a child, 
" happe nto come between them, they tread 
" the stone to pieces, as the divider of their 
*' friendship, and this is tolerable in compari* 

P 3 " son 

* Bingham, 16. i. 6*. 5. Antiq. EccL P. 300* Mih de Doct> 
Christ, L. 2. C 10. 



214 



The Antiquities of 



*' son of beating an Innocent child that comes 
" between them. But it is more pleasant, that 
*' sometimes the children's quarrel is revenged 
" by the dogs ; for many times they are so su- 
" perstitious, as to dare to beat the dog that 
" comes between them, who, turning again up- 
" on hmi that smites him, sends him from seek- 
" ing a vain remedy^ to seek a real physician 
" indeed. Hence proceed Hkewise these other 
" superstitions : For a man to tread upon his 
" threshold when he passes by his own house, 
" to return back to bed again, if he chance to 
" sneeze as he is putting on his $hoes ; to re- 
** turn into his house, if he stumble at his go- 
" ing out; if the rats knaw his cl(»thes, to be 
" more terrified with the suspicion of some fu- 
" ture evil, then concerned for the present 
^' loss. He says, Cato gave a wise and smart 
" answ^er to such an one, who came in some 
" consternation to consult him, about the rats 
*' having knawed his stockings ; that, said he, 
" is no great wonder, but it would have been 
*' a wonder indeed, if the stockmgs had knawed 
" the rats. St Austin mentions this wittv an- 
" swer of a wise heathen, to convince Christians 
" the better of the unreasonableness and vani- 
" ty of all such superstitious observations. 
*' And he concludes, that all such arts, whe- 
" ther of trifling or more noxious superstition, 
" are to be rejected and avoided by Christians, 



4( 



as 



The Cormnon People. 215 

*• as proceeding originally from some pernicious 
*' society between men and devils, and being 
" the compacts and agreements of such treach- 
" erous and deceitful friendship. The apostle 
" forbids us to have fellowship with devils ; 
^' and that, he says, respects not only idols, 
" and things offered to idols, but all imagina- 
" ry signs pertaining to the worship of idols, 
" and also all remedies, and other observations, 
" which are not appointed publicly by God to 
" promote the love of God and our neighbour, 
" but proceed from the private fancies of men, 
^' and tend to delude the hearts of poor delud- 
" ed mortals. For these things have no natu- 
" ral virtue in them, but owe all their efficacy 
'' to a presumptuous confederacy with devils : 
"And they are full of pestiferous curiosity, 
" tormenting anxiety, and deadly slavery. 
" They were first taken up, not for any real 
" power to be discerned in them, but gained 
" their power by men's observing them. And 
" therefore by the devil's art they happen dif- 
" ferently to different men, according to their 
" own apprehensions and presumptions. For 
" the great deceiver knows, how to procure 
" things agreeable to every man's temper, and 
" ensnare him by his own suspicions and con- 

" sent/' 

P 4 0B« 



2l6 Observations qii 

OBSERVATIONS 

PN 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

A Great deal upon this subject may be found 
in Pliny's Natural History, tending to con- 
jfirm what Mr Bourne has told us, that it was ^ 
custom of Gentilism, adopted under the Papal su- 
perstition, and so transmitted to our times. The 
subsequent poetical description of the months by 
Churchill contains in it many allusions to the po- 
pular notions of days, &c. 

Frose January, leader of the year, 

Mine'' d pics in van, and calves heads in the rear j * 

Dull February, in whose leaden reign. 

My mother bore a bard without a brain ; f 

March, various, fierce and wild, with wind-crack'd cheek*, 

By wilder Welshmen led, and crown'd with /eeks. % 

April Vi\i\i fools, and May with bastards blest, || 

June with white roses in her rebel brca-' 

July, 

* Alluding to the mince pies in use about Christmas or new- 
year's day, and to an inhuman insult offered, or said to have been 
usually offered, by a certain party on the Slst of this month (a day- 
wigro carbone notandus) to the memory of the unhappy Charles. 

It is unnecessary to observe here, that it is equally mean and 
cowardly io pluck a dead lion by the beard I 

f Mr Churchill discovers no small vanity in distinguishing the 
month of February by that very important circumstance his having 
been born in it. But vanity is indeed the vice of poebs, and the 
usual concomitant of a fine and sprightly imagination ! 

X St David's day. 

II Vide all-fools day in the Appendix.— See al*o the Spectator j 
" Beware the month of Mat/,'''' 



Chapter XVIII. 317 

Ja/t/, to whom, the dog-star in her train, 
St James gives Ousters, and St Swhhin rain * ; 
August^ who banished from her Smithfield stand f , 
To Chelsea flies with dogget in her hand 5 
September^ when by custom (right divine) 
G^-d-vf^ are ordain'd to bleed at MichaePs shrine { : 
October, who the cause of freedom join'd, 
And gave a second George to bless mankind 5 
November, who at once to grace our earth, 
St Andrew boasts, and our Augusta"^ s birth j 
December, last of months, but best, who gave, 
A Christ to man, a Saviour to the slave. 
Whilst, falsely grateful, man at the full feast, 
To do God honour, makes himself a beast. 

There is nothing superstitious in the prognos- 
tications of weather from achs and corns : AcH 
and corns ^ says the great philosopher Bacon, do 
engrieve (i. e. afflict) either towards rain ov frost: 
The one makes the humours to abound more^ and 
the other makes them sharper. 

Loyd in his Diall of Daies, observes on St 
Paul's, that " of this day, the husbandmen It 

prognos- 



iC 



* Swithin, a holy bishop of Winchester about the year 860, and 
called the weeping St Swithin, for that about his feast, Praesepe & 
Aselli, rainy constellations arise cosmicallij, and commonly cause 
rain. Blount in Verbo. 

f Alluding to the interdiction of St Bartholomew Fair. 
X Goose intentos, as Blount tells us, is a word used in Lancashire, 
where the husbandmen claim it as a due to have a goose intentos on 
the 16th Sunday after Pentecost j which custom took origin from 
the last word of this old church prayer of that day, " Tua, nos quae- 
" sumus, domine, gratia semper praeveniat & sequatur j ac bonis 
" operibus jugiter praestet esse intentos,'''' The common people very 
humorously mistake it for a goose with ten toes. . 

II Perhaps it will be thought no uninteresting article in this little 
Code of Vulgar Antiquities, to mention a well-known interjection 
used by the country people to their horses, when yoked to a cait, 
^c. heit or heck ! I find this used in the days of Ch^iucer : 

" They 



218 Observations on 

" prognosticate the whole year : If it be a fair 
" day, it will be a pleasant year * : if it be windy, 
" it will be wars ; if it be cloudy, it doth fore- 
" shew the plague that year.^' 
Mr Gay notices it thus in his Trivia : 

All superstition from thy breast repel, 
Let cred'lous boys, and prattling nurses tell 
How if the festive/ of Paul be dear, 
"Plenty from lib'ral horn shall crown the year : 
When the dark skies dissolve in snow or rain. 
The laboring hind shall yoke the steer in vain ,• 
But if the threatening winds in tempest roar, 
Then war shall bathe her wasteful sword in gore. 
How if, on Swithin'^s feast the welkin lours, 
And ev'ry penthouse streams with hasty show'rs. 
Twice twenty days shall clouds their fleeces drain. 
And wash the pavements with incessant rain : 
Let no such vulgar tales debase thy mind. 
Nor Pai/ly nor Swithin^ rule the clouds and wind. 

Thus also some rural prognostications of the 
weather are alhided to in his first pastoral : 

We leam'd to read the skies y 
To know when hail will fall, or winds ari?e ; 
He taught us erst the heifer"^ s tail to view, 
\Vheiv stuck aloft that showers would straight ensue ; 



He 



" They saw a cart that charged was with hay, 

*' The which a carter drove forth on the way : 

" Dope was the ^vay, for wliiqh the cart still stode j 

** This carter smote and cryde as he were wode, 

" He it Scot I heit Brok ! what spare ye for the none*, 

" The fend you fetch, quoth he, body and bones." 

Fre. T. 275. 
The name of Brok is still too in frequent use amongst farmer's 
horses. 

* It is common in the north to plant the herb house let k upon 
the tops of cottage houses. The learned author of the Vulgar 
Errors informs us that it was an ancient superstition, and this herb 
was planted on the tops of houses as a defensative against lightning 
and thunder. Q^iuncunx, 126. 



Chapter XVIII. 219 

He fii^st that useful secret did explain, 
That pricking corns foretold the gat h"* ring rain ; 
When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air, 
He told us that the welkin would be clear *, 

I find an observation on the 13th of December, 
in the ancient calendar of the church of Rome, 
" That on this day prognostications of the 
months were drawn for the whole year." t 

On the day of St Barnabas t, and on that of St 
Simon, and St Jude, " that a t^^mpest often 
rises." The vigil of St Paul's is called there, 
" Dies Egyptiacm,'^ 

Many superstitious observations on days may 
be foun4 in a curious old book called Practica 
Rusticorum, 

A Highlander, says Mr Pennant, never begins 
any thing of consequence on the day of the xaeek, 
on which the third of May falls, which he calls 
the dismal day, 

CHAR 

* Prognostications of the weather^ for the use of those who live 
in towns, are given us in the following words from the above-men-- 
^ioned beautiful didactic poem Trivia : 

But when the swinging signs your ears offend 
With creaking noise, then rainy floods impend 5 
Soon shall the kennels swell with rapid streams, 



On hosier'' s poles depending stockings ty'd, 
Flag with the slackened gale, from side to side : 
Church monuments foretel \)iQ changing air ; 
Then Niobe dissolves into a tear, 

And sweats with secret grief : You'll hear the sounds 
Of whistling winds, e'er kennels break their bounds ^ 
Ungrateful odours common shores diffuse, 
And dropping vaults distil unwholesome dews. 
E'er the tiles rattle with the smoaking show'r, S^Cc 
f Decemb. 13. 

Prognostica Mensium per totum annum, 
^arnabae Apost. 

Tempestas saepe oritur. 



£20 The Antiquities of 

CHAR XIX. 

Of Candlemas-day ; why so called ; the Blas^ 
phemy of the Church of Rome in consecrat- 
ing Wax: Candles^ 

THIS day goes under several denomina*- 
tions : It is called the day of CHRIST'S 
Presentation; because on it Christ was 
presented in the temple ; it is called the Holi- 
day of St Simeon ; because it was on it, that 
he took our Saviour up in his arms : And it is 
called the Purif cation, because then the Ho- 
ly Virgin w^as purified. It is generally a day 
of festivity, and more than ordinary observa- 
tion among women, and is therefore called the 
Wives' Feast-day. The feasting seems to be 
observed in honour of the Virgin Mary ; for 
as on the day of a woman's being churched^ 
there is no common entertainment, so it seems, 
that this feasting was begun in the times of 
Popery, by way of compliment to the church- 
ing-day of the Virgin Mary. 

It has the name of ^Candlemas-day, be- 
cause 



* Nos Anglica, tJig purification of our Lady. Vel communi 
seimone pctius, Candlemas-day : A distiibutione & gestatione ce- 
reorum ardentium : Vel etiam, quod per ilium diem cereorimi usu-* 
in vcspertinis precibus & litaniis, per totam hyemem adhibitus/ces- 
jare solet, usque ad sanctorum omnium festum aimi insequentis, 
Montag. Orig, Ecc, Pars* Fri, P, 1?T. 



The Common People. 221 

€ause lights were distributed and carried about 
in procession, or because also the use of light- 
ed tapers^ which was observed all winter at 
vespers and litanies, were then wont to cease, 
till the next All-hallowmass. 

These lights so carried about, were blessed 
6f the priests^ as Hospinian 'tells us, who made 
use of the following prayers at their consecra- 
tion. * We implore thee by the invocation of 
thy holy name, and by the intercession of the 
blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of thy Son, 
whose feast we this day celebrate with the 
highest devotion ; and by the intercession of 
all thy saints, that thou wouldst sanctify these 
candles' to the good and profit of men, and the 
health of his soul and body, whether in earth 
or sea. And again. O LoRip Jesu, I be- 
seech thecj that thou wouldst bless this thy 
creature of wax, and grant it thy heavenly be- 
nediction, by the power of thy holy cross ; that 
as it was a gift to man, by which the darkness 
might be driven away, so now it may be en- 
dowed with such virtue by the sign of the holy 

cross, 

* Rogamus te per invocationem sancti tui nominis, & per inter- 
cessionem Maries beatae virginis matris filli tui, &c. ut consecrare 
v«lis has candelas ad utilitatem & commodum hominis, &c. & mox, 
Domine Jesu, benedlcas obsecro banc creaturam ceream, & concede 

lUi caelestem, malignus spiritus contremescat, & ita territus au- 

fugiat, &c. Hospin. de Test. Furifc, P. 53. 



22^ The Antiquities^ ^c. 

cross, that wheresoever it is lighted and placed, 
the evil spirit may tremble, and with his ser- 
vants, be in such terror and confusion as to fly 
away from that habitation, and no more vex 
and disturb thy servants. 

After this, he adjures the wajc candles^ in 
words like these. * I adjure, thee, O thou 
waxen creature, in the name of our Lord and 
the Holy Trinity, that thou repel and extirpate 
the devil and his sprights, &c. And therefore 
all Christians (says Eccius. Tom, 3. Horn, dc 
Purijicat.) ought to use these Hghts, with an 
holy love, having a sincere dependence, that 
thus they shall be freed by the power of the 
word and this prayer, from all the snares and 
frauds of the devil. 

Our Author upon this, says, That this is ma- 
nifest blasphemy and idolatry. For as on the 
one hand, they take the name of God and the 
Holy Trinity in vain, so on the other they at- 
tribute to a wax candle, what should be ascrib- 
ed to Christ alone, and the quickening 
power of the Holy Ghost. 

OB- 

* Adjuro te creaturam ceream in nomine Domini nostri & sanc- 
tae Trinitatis, ut sis extirpatio & depuUio disboli & spectronim 
ejus, &.C. Hospin, ibui. 



Observations^ &c. 22 



o 



OBSERVATIONS 

O N 

CHAPTER XIX. 

IN the forenamed ancient calendar of the Rom- 
ish Churchy I find the subsequent observations 
on the 2d of February, usually called Candlemas- 
day* 

" Torches are consecrated." 

" Torches are given away for many days *." 

Pope Sergius t, says Becon in his Reliques of 
Rome, Fol. 164, commaunded, that all the peo- 
ple shuld go on procession upon Candlemasse day^ 
and carry candels about with them, brenning in 
their hands, in the year of our Lord 684. Durand, 
&c. 

How this candk'hearing on Candlemas day came 
first up, the author of our English Festival decla- 
reth on this manner. " Somtyme, saitli he, 
when the Romaines, by great myght and royal 
power, conquered all the world, they were so 
proude, that they forgat God, and made them 
divers gods after their own lust. And so among 
all they had a God that they called Mars, that had 
been tofore a notable knight in battayle. And 

so 

* Feb. 2. " Purificatio Virgini 
** Faces consecrantur. 
'' Faces dantur multis diebus." 
f In a convocation in the reign of Henry VII Ith, — in tlie pas- 
sage that relates to rites and ceremonies,— among those that were 
not to be contemned or cast away was " bearing of candles on Can- 
" dlemas-day, in memory of Christ the Spiritual Light, of whom 
** Simeon did prophecy, as is read in the church that day." 

Fuller's Church History, p. 222. 



124 Observations^ &€• 

so they prayed to hym for help, and for that they 
would speed the better of this knyght, the people 
prayed, and did great worship to his mother, that 
was called Fehrua^ after which woman, much 
people have opinion, that the moneth Fehruary 
is called. Wherefore the second day of thys 
moneth is Candlemas-day, 
I The Romaines this night went about the city 

\ I of Rome, with torches and candles hrenning in wor- 

ship of this woman Fehrua^ for hope to have the 
more helpe and succoure of her sonne Mars, 

Then was there a pope, that was called Ser- 
gius, and when he saw Christian people draw to 
this false maumetry and untrue belief; he tliought 
to undo this foule use and custom, and turn it in- 
to God's worship, and our Lady's^ and gave com- 
mandment that all Christian people should come 
to church, and offer up a candle hrennyng^ in the 
worship that they did to tliis woman Februa, and 
do worship to our Lady^ and to her Sonne our 
Lord Jesus Christ. So that now this feast is so- 
lemnly hallowed thorowe all Christendom e. And 
every Christian man and woman of covenable 
age, is bound to come to churcli, and offer up 
tli^ir candles^ as though they were bodily with our 
Lady^ hopyng for this reverence and worship' 
that they do to our Ladye to have a great reward 
in heaven, &c." 

Ray, in his Collection of Proverbs, preserves 
one that relates to this day : 

" On Cand/emas-day throw candle and candlestick away." 

Somerset/ 

CHAP. 



Tilt Antiquities^ &c. 225 

CHAP. XX, 

Of Valentine-day ; its Ceremonies ; what the 
council o/*Trullus thought of such customs ; 
that they had better he omitted. 

IT is a ceremony^ never omitted among the 
vulgar, to draw lots, which they term Va- 
lentines^ on the eve before* Valentine-day, 
The names of a select nmnber of one sex are, 
by an equal number of the other, put into 
some vessel ; and after that, every one draws 
a name, which for the present is called their 
Valentine^ and is also looked upon as a good 
omen of their being man and wife afterwards. 
There is a rural tradition, that on this day 
every f bird chuses its mate. From this, per- 

hapsi 

* Valentine, a Presbyter of the church, was beheaded under 
Claudius the emperor, 

f Nature y the Vicar e of the Almightie Lord 
That hotey coldey hevie, lighty moist, and drie 
Hath knity by even number of accm^dy 
In easie voicCy began to speaJc and sayy 

Foules take hede of my sentence Ipray, 
And for your oxvn eascy in fordrifig ot your needy 
As fast as I may speaky I 'will me speed* 

Ye know wel/y how on St Fale?itine*s day 
By my s.aatey and tkrcugh my gov^^rnaimce 
Ye doe chose your matesy and. after Jlie atsoay 
JVifh heniy as J pricke you mth pleasaunce. 

Q 



226 The Aniiqiiities of 

haps the youthful part of the world hath tirst 
practised this custom, so common at this sea- 
son. 

In the Trullan council we. have lots and di- 
vinations forbid, as being some of those things 
■which provoked the LORD to a?iger a- 
gainst King^ Manasses, who used lots and 
divinations, &c. upon which the scholiast hath 
these words, -j* The custom of drawing lots 
was after this manner ; on the 2Sd day of June, 
which is the eve of St John Baptist, men and 
women were accustomed to gather together in 
the eveninit by the sea-side, or in some certain 
houses, and there adorn a girl, who was her 
parents first-begotten child, after the manner of 
a bride. Then they feasted and leaped after 
the manner of Bacchanals, and danced and 
shouted as they were wont to do on their holy- 
days: After this they poured into a narrow neck- 
ed vessel some of the sea- water, and put also in- 
to it certain things belonging to each of them. 
Then as if the devil gifted the girl, with the fa- 
culty of telling future things ; they would en- 
quire with a loud voice^ about the good or 
evil fortune that should attend them : Upon 
this the girl would take out of the vessel, the 
first thing that came to hand, and shew it, 

and 

* 2 Lib, Kings, chap, xxi. 

f Can, 65. in Syn, TruL in Bais,p, 440. 



The Common People, 227 

and give it to the owner ; who, upon receiving 
it, was so foolish as to imagine himself wiser, 
as to the good or evil fortune that should at- 
tend him. 

This custom, as he tells us a Httle after, is 
altogether diabolical : And surely it was so, 
being used as a presage of what was future. 
Was the custom of the lots now mentioned used, 
as among the Heathens, they would no doubt 
be as worthy of condemnation ; but as far as 
I know, there is but little credit given to them ; 
though that little is too much, and ought to 
be laid aside. But if the custom was used 
without any mixture or allay of superstition, 
as I believe it is in some places, yet it is often 
attended with great inconveniences and misfor- 
tunes, with uneasinesses to families, with scaa* 
dal, and sometimes with ruin 



J 



Q 2 ^-ove 



228 Observations on 

OBSERVATIONS 

N 

CHAPTER XX. 

Festa Valentino rediit Iuj: 



Quisque sibi sociam jam legit ales avem. 

Inde sibi dominam per sortes qua^rere in annum 

^iansit ab antiquis mos repetitus avis 

Quisque legit Dominam^ quam casto observet amore 

Qiiam nitidis sertis obsequioque colat : 

Mittere cut possit blandi munuscula Veris, 

Buchanan. 

BIRDS are said to choose their mates about 
this time of the year, and probably from 
thence came the custom of young persons chusing 
valentines, or special loving friends on that day : 
This is the commonly received opinion. — I rather 
incline to controvert this, supposing it to be the 
remains of an ancient superstition in the church 
of Rome on this day, of choosing patrons for the 
year ensuing ; and that, because ghosts were 
fluiight to walk on the night of this day *, or 
about this time. 

Gallantry seems to have borrowed this, or ra- 
ther to have taken it up, when superstition (at 
the reformation) had been compelled to let it fall. 

I have searched the legend of St Valentine, but 

think 

* This I find in an observation of the 14th of February, in thr 
old Roniish calendar so often cited : 

" Manes noct« vegari creduntur." 



Chapter XX. 329 

think there is no occurrence in his life, that 
could have given rise to this ceremony *. 

The learned Moresin tells t us, that at this fes- 
tival, the men used to make the women presents, 
as upon another occasion the women used to do 
to the men, but that in Scotland on this day pre- 
sents were made reciprocally. 

Mr Gay has left us a poetical description of 
some rural ceremonies used on the morning of 
this day. 

Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind 
Their paramours with mutual chirpings find j 
I rearly rose, just at the break of day. 
Before the sun had chas'd the stars away 5 
Afield I went, amid the morning dew, 
To milk my kine (for so should housewives do) 
Thee first 1 spied, and the first swain we see 
In spite of fortune shall our true love be J. 

Q 3 CHAP, 

* Mr Wheatley in his illustration of the Common Prayer, p. 61. 
lells us, that St Valentine was a man of most admirable parts, and 
so famous for his love and charity, that the custom of chusing va- 
lentines upon his festival, (which is still practised) took its rise 
from thence. I know not how my reader will be s atisfied with this 
learned writer's explication.— -He has given us no premises in my 
opinion, from whence we can draw any such conclusion, — Were 
not all the saints supposed to be famous for their love and charity ? 
Surely he does not mean that we should understand the word Love 
here, as implying Gallantry ! 

, f " Et verc ad ValentinI festum a virishabent Foeminee munera, 
*' et alio temporis viris dantur.— rin Scotia autem ad ValentinI reci- 
" procae fuere datlouis." Moresini Deprav. Rel. 160. 

X Mr Peimant, in his Tour in Scotland tells us, that in Febru- 
ary young persons draw valentines^ and from thence collect their 
future fortune in the nuptial state. 

I> Goldsmith, in his Vicar of Wakefield, describing the man- 
ners of some rustics^ tells us, " they kept up the Christmas caroly 
** sent true-love knots on Valentine mornings eat pancakes on 
" shrove-tide, shewed i\\&iv wit on 1]\g first of April, and relip'ous^ 
" /?/ cracked nuts on All-hallow-eve.'''' 



M6 



The Antiquities of 



CHAP. XXI. 

U/* Shrove- tide ; what it signijies ; the custom 
of the Papists at this season; that our pre- 
sent customs arc very unbecoming. 

SHROVE-TIDE signifieth the time of con^ 
fessing sins, as the word tide, which sig- 
nifies time ; and the Saxon word shrive or 
shrift, which signifies confession^ plainly shew. 
The reason why tliis time is so denominated, 
is, because it was set apart by the church of 
Home for a time of shriving or confessing sins. 
For then people were wont to confess their 
sins, and receive the sacrament that they might 
be better prepared for the religious observation 
of the following season of lent. Thus in the 
constitutions of * Si?non Sudburi/, it is order- 
ed, " That lay-men should be admonished to 
" confess in the very beginning of lent" And 
in Thcodolphuss C^'^'ttda, it is ordered, " That 

" on 



* Simon of Sudbury^ Archbishop of Canterbury^ was made at 
Lambethy A. D. 1373, in the second year of Richard the Second, 
in the first year of Urban the fifth Pope, and Clement tlie sevcntli 
Anti-pope. This most eloquent man, who was wise incomparably 
beyond the rest of tlie kingdom, sat about six years, and at Inst was 
beheaded at London by command of the rebels, Ty/er and Slravo, 
A. D. 1381. Johnson. Const. 1381. I have sten in a church at 
Sudbury in Sujfolk, a skuU, which is shewn to strangers for th© 
skull of this bijl\op, and probably it is the true one. 



Tlie Common People. 23X 

^' on the week next before lent, every man 
" should go to his shrift, and his shrift should 
** shrive bim in such a manner, as his deeds 
" which he had done required : And that he 
*' should charge all that belong to his district, 
" that if any of them have discord with any, he 
" make peace with him ; if any one will not be 
" brought to this, then he shall not shrive him ; 
" but then he shall inform the bishop, that he 
^' may convert him to what is right, if he be 
^' willing to belong to God : Then all conten- 
" tions and disputes shall cease ; and if there 
" be any one of them, that hath taken offence 
" at another, then shall they be reconciled, 
" that they may more freely say in the Lord^s 
" prayer, LORD forgive us our trespasses^&cc* 
" And having thus purified their minds, let 
*' them enter upon the holy fast tide^ and 
^' cleanse themselves by satisfaction against 
" holy Easter, ^^c, Johnson 994^- 36'. Consti- 
" tut:' 

This custom of confessing to the priest at 
this time, was laid aside by our church at the 
reformation: For sins are to be confessed to 
God alone, and not to the priest, except when 
the conscience cannot otherwise be quieted : 
Then indeed the grief is to be opened to the 
Spiritual guide in private, * That by the mi- 

Q 4 riistry 

* Exhort, to the Com. 



232 The Antiquities, ^c. 

nistry of GOD's word, he may give the bent- 
Jit of absolution, together with ghostly coun- 
sel and advice, to the quieting of the con- 
science, and the avoiding oj all scruple and 
doubtfulness. But how this other worse cus- 
tom came to bq retained, of indulging all man- 
ner of luxury and mtemperance, I know no- 
ji] thing but that the flesh was too powerful for 

the Spirit : The duties of religion, how justly 
soever enjoined us, are tamely dispensed with, 
but what wont we rather do, than give up the 
pleasures of life ? Surely the church never de- 
signed, when she so justly took away the public 
confessions of this season, that rioting, and gam- 
ing, and drunkenness, should continue amongst 
us. Are these a fit preparation for so solemn 
a season ? Will they qualify us for the hear- 
ing of the history of our LokdN passion? 
Will they prepare us for the reception of his 
body and blood ? And fit us to meet him in 
the morning of the resurrection? Will they 
not leather speak us heathens than Christians ? 
And lead us to hell, than on the way to hea- 
ven? Such customs as these may, in some 
measure, be excusable among them whose 
^ church has too nmch led them into those 
things ; but it is scandalous, and sinful, and 

abomi- 

* Vid. Seldon, Table Talk, C, of Christ r7ws. 



il 



Observations, &c. 233 

abominable in those, who pretend to be the 
enemies of error and superstition, to contniue 
the observation of such sinful customs. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XXI. 

MR Bourne seems to wonder at the luxury 
and intemperance that usually prevailed at 
thi season : Was he ignorant that this was no 
more than a vestige of the Romish carnival. See 
Pancake Tuesday in the Appendix, 

The learned Moresin * derives the carnival from 
the times of Gentilism : he introduces Johannes 
Boemus Aubanus describing it thus : " Men eat 
" and drink, and abandon themselves to every 
'' kind of sportive foolery, as if resolved to have 
^' their fill of pleasure before they were to die, 
" and as it *were forego every sort of delight." 
Thus also Selden : " What the church debars us 
'' one day, she gives us leave to take out in ano- 
'' ther : First we fast, and then ^e feast : First 
*' there is a carnival^ and then a lent. 

Fitzstephen informs us, that anciently on Shrove 
Tuesday, the school-boys used to bring cocks of the 

game, 

* Comedit enlm et bibit, seque loco jocoque omnimodo adeo de- 
dit quasi usui nunquam veniant, quasi eras moritura, hodie priiis. 
omnium rerum capere velit satietatem, &c. Deprav. Rel. 142, 



234 Observations on 

game * to their master, and to delight themselves 
in cock-fighting all the forenoon. Vide Stow* 
Hence so many Welch Mains, he. about this sea- 
son. 

Since that time a barbarous custom hath been 
instituted on this day of throning at cocks t, which 
we hope will be soon forgotten amongst us. It is 
an amusement fit only for the bloodiest savages, 
and not for humanized men^ much less for Chris- 
tians ! This was formerly in use on this day at 
Newcastle, but is now laid aside. Wc wish it 
consigned to eternal oblivion ! 

* The learned Morcsm informs u-, miL Ikc ^ u^u^u derived thi* 
custom of exhibiting cock-fights on one day every year from the A- 
thcnians, and from an institution of Themistocles. — " Galligallina' 
*' riV, says \ie,j)roducuntur per dicm\singuiis annis mjmgnam a Pap:'- 
*' seqiiis^ ex veteri Atheniensium forma ductomore, et 'J'hemistocli* 
** instituto." Gael. Rhod. lib. 9. variar. lect. cap. 4G. idem Perc^p.rai 
jfiebat. Alex, ab Alex. lib. 5. cap. 8. 

Deprav. Rel. Orig. &c. ^ 

This custom was retained in many schools in Scotland -within 
this century j perhaps it is still in use. — The schoolmasters uere 
said to preside at the battle, and claimed the run-a-way cocks as their 
perquisites. These were called " fugecs j" corrupt I suppose of 
refugees. — I forbear to describe the mode of thro\x:ing at cocks, for 
as Boerhave observes on another occasion, " To teach the arts of 
'* cruelty is equivalent to committing them." 

f The ingenious artist, Hogarth, has satirized this barbarity in 
the first of the prints called the four «;tages of cruelty. Trusler [\\-\\o 
by no means handles his pen as the master did his pencil) tells Ui., 
in his description of this Plate, " We have several groups of boys 
** at their different barbarous diversions. One is throiving at a cock, 
*' the universal shrove-tide amusement, beating the harmless fcather- 
" ed animal to jelly." — " It has been judiciously observed," he far- 
ther remarks, speaking of cats, " that the conceit of a cote's having 
** nine lives, hath cost at least nine lives in ten of the whole race of 
** them j scarce a boy in the streets, but has in this point outdone 
^* even Hercules himself, who was renowned for killing a moru-lcr 
*» that had but three lives^ 

Vide Hogarth moralized, p. 134» 



it 



Chapter XXL 235 

Mr Bourne takes no notice of Ash-Wednesday, 
^o called from a custom observed in the ancient 
Christian Church, of penitents expressing their 
humiliation at this time by appearing in sack- 
cloth and ashes *. The want of this discipline is 
at present supplied by reading publicly on this 
day the curses denounced against impenitent sin- 
ners, when the people repeat an Amen after each 
curse; 

Enlightened as we think ourselves at this day, 
there are many who consider this general avowal 
oi' the justice of God's wrath against impenitent sin- 
ners, as cursing their neighbours ; consequently, 
like good Christians, they keep away from church 
on the occasion. — A folly and superstition wor- 
thy of the ajter -midnight^ the spirit-walking time of 
Popery I 

In a convocation held in the time of Henry the 
Eighth, mentioned in Fuller's Church History, 
p. 222. " giving of ashes on ash-Wednesday^ to put 
^' in remembrance every Christian man in the be- 
*' ginning of lent and penance, that he is but 
'' ashes and earth, and thereto shall return^^ &c. is 
observed with some other rites and ceremonies, 
that survived the shock, that almost overthrew, 
at that remarkable sera, the whole pile of cathoHc 
superstitions. 

CHAP. 

* Cinere quia se conspergunt in poenitentia Judaei. Gregor. Mag. 
iitatuit, ut in quadragessima ante initium Missae Cineres consecren- 
tur, quibus Popuhis aspcrgebatur^ & diem huic rei sacrum dat, in 
quo cuncti generatim mortales characterem cinereurn in fronte ac- 
cipiant. Moresin. Deprav. Rel. Orig. 37. 

There is a curious clause in one of the Romish casuists concern- 
ing the keeping of Lent ; it is, " that lyeggars which are ready to 
*' flffamishfor ivant^ may in lent time eat what they can get /" 

See Bishop Hall's Triumphs of Rome, p. 123. 



236 The Antiquities of 

Chapter XXII. 

Of Palm-Sunday : Why so called ; how ob^ 
served in the Popish times : What it is tru- 
ly to carry Palms in our hands on this day, 

THE Sunday before Easter^ which is deno- 
minated Palm'Sunday^ is so called, * be- 
cause, as the Ritualists say, on that day the 
boughs of palm-trees were wont to be carried 
in procession, in imitation of those which the 
children of Israel strawed in the way of 
Christ. For they cut down branches from 
the trees, and strawed them in the way; 
which, according to the consent of antiquity, 
were the branches of the palm-tree ; it being 
very common in that country, and used as an 
emblem of victory. And a Doctor of our own 
church, in his discourse upon this festival^ 
isays, "' '\ From the story y as described by St 
" Luke and St Matthew, sofne of the ancient 
" church took occasion, as on this day, to go 
'* in procession with palms in their hands, and 
" to denominate it Palm-Sunday.'* 

But 

* Dicltur enim dominica in ramis palmarum, quod iUo die 
rami palmarum in processionibus deportentur in significationem il- 
lorum, quos filii Israel statuerunt in via, Cbristo jam vcnientc^ 
Beiitk 531. P. 34. Cap, Durand, Lib, 6. P. 327. /// Ram, 

f Dr Spark's Feasts and Fasts. 



The Common People. 237 

But however harmless this custom might 
have been, in the times of its first institution, 
it is certain, that in after ages it sunk into su- 
perstition and gross idolatry. Thus the like- 
mists, in their translation of the New Testament, 
describe the ceremony themselves : " These 
" offices of honour, done to our Saviour extra- 
" ordinarily, were very acceptable. And for 
'* a memory hereof, the holy church maketh a 
" solemn procession every year upon this day ; 
^' specially in our country, when it was catho- 
'' lie, with the blessed sacrament reverently 
" carried, as it were Christ upon the ass, and 
" strawing of bushes and flowers, bearing of 
" palms, setting up boughs, spreading and 
" hanging up the richest clothes, the quire and 
" quiresters singing, as here the children and 
" the people ; all done in a very godly cere- 
" mony, to the honour of Christ, and the 
" memory of his triumph upon this day. The 
*' like service, and the like duties done to him 
*' in all other solemn processions of the blessed 
" sacrament, and otherwise, be undoubtedly no 
" less grateful." Dr * Fulke upon this, gives 
this answer : '^ Your palm'Sunday procession 
" was horrible idolatry, and abusing of the 
" Lord's institution, who ordained his supper 
" to be eaten and drunken, not to be carried 

" about 

* Fulk, in Loc. M^t. 



( S3S The Antiquities of 

It 

*' about in procession like a heathenish idol ; 

*' But it is pretty sport, that 3^ou make the 

'' priests that carrieth this idol, to supply the 

'' room of the ass^ on which Christ did ride : 

'' Thus you turn the holy mystery of Christ^ s 

" riding to Jerusalem^ to a May-game and 

" pageant play. And yet you say, such ser- 

'* vice done to Christ is undoubtedly ex- 

" ceeding grateful ; yea, no less grateful, than 

" that was done by his disciples, at the time 

" mentioned in the text : your argument and 

^' proof is none, but your bare asseverations. 

" That which the disciples did, had tlie war- 

" rant of the holy Scripture; but who hath re- 

" garded these theatrical pomps at their hands ? 

" Or what word of God have you to assure 

" you that he accepteth such will- worship ? 

" Who detesteth all worship, which is accord- 

" ing to the doctrines and traditions of men, 

*' and not after his own commandment/' 

From this superstitious and idolatrous cus^ 

tom, without all doubt it comes to pass, that 

we now and then, on a pahn-Sundai/, see the 

young people carrying branches of palms in 

their hands ; which they seem fond of having 

that day, and which they as little regard at 

other times. It is true indeed, it is a relic 

of the ancient superstition of the PapisiSy but 

a* 



The Common People. 259 

as it is now intirely stript of any superstition, 
and is an emblem of the season, and the trans- 
actions of that day ; so I see no harm in so in- 
nocent an observation. 

Bat how much better w^ould it be to carry 
in our hands this day, * the palm of good 
works^ the graces of humihty, and kindness, 
and charity, to feed the hungry, to give drink 
to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to entertain 
the strangers, to visit the sick and in prison, 
&c. By such actions as these, should we truly 
carry palms in our hands ; by these we should 
truly straw the way for our Lokd, and so fol- 
low his steps to the heavenly Jerusalem, 

* Ramos debent fideles portare, id est bona opera. Opera 

tniserecordiae sunt, vestire nudos, colligere hospltes, errantes revo- 
care, visitare infirjnos, &Ci Bed. Tom. 7. P. 369. 



OB- 



240 Observaiiojis, 8cc, 

OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THERE can be no doubt but that Palm-Sun" 
day^ the Dominica in Ramis Palmarurn^ wa» 
.so called from the pahn branches and green boughs 
formerly distributed on that day, in commemora- 
tion of our Lord's riding to Jerusalem *. Sprigs 
oi box-wood are still used as a substitute ^ov palms 
in Roman Catholic countries. — Stow, in his Sur- 
vey of London, tells us, " that in the week be- 
fore Easter, " had ye great shewes made, for the 
" fetching in of a trcisted tree^ or xcith^ as they term- 
" ed it, out of the woods into the king's house, 
" and the like into every man's house of honour 
" or worship." This must also have been a sub- 
stitute for the palm : Thus it is still customary 
with our boys to go out and gather the mllo-w 
JlawerSy or buds at this time. — These seem to have 
been selected, because in the north they are ge- 
nerally the only things at this season, in which 
the power of vegetation can be discovered. 

The Russians (of the Greek church) have a very 
solemn procession on Palm-Sunday. 

CHAP. 

* 111 Fuller's Churcli History, p. 222, we read, " Bearing oi palms 
'* on Palm-Sunday, is in memory of the receiving of Christ into 
" Hierusalera a little before his death, and that -we may have the 
" same desire to receive him into our hearts." Provision is made 
for retaining the rites used on Palm- Sunday, and we have also the 
reasons told us why they should be retaint-d in the convocation, in 
the time of Henry VIII. referred to in the observations on the pre- 
cedhig chapter. 



The Antiquities^ Sec, 241 

G H A P. XXIII. 

Of rising early on Easter- Day : What is 
meant hy the sun dancing that morn : The 
antiquity of rising early on this day ; the 
end and design 0/ it : The great advantage 
of it. 

IT is a common custom among the vulgar 
and uneducated part of the world, to rise 
before the sun on Easter-day^ and walk into* 
the fields : The reason of which is to see the 
sun dance ; w^hich they have been told, from 
an old tradition^ always dances as upon that 
day. We read indeed that the sun once 
^ stood stilly but whether the sun danced upon, 
the very day our Saviour rose on, we cannot 
tell : It is very probable it did not, because 
the Scriptures are silent ; and that it never did 
so since, I think we may be well assured ; for- 
asmuch as never any, that we have heard of, 
have seen any such thing since that time. If 
therefore this tradition hath any meaning, it 
must be a metaphorical one ; that when the 
morning proves clear, there is a seeming smile 
over the face of nature, and earth and heaven 
shew tokens of joy. For as the earth and her 
vallies, by standing thick with corn, are said 

R to 

* Josh. X, 



242 The Antiquities of 

to laugh and sin^ ; so, on account of the re- 
surrection, the heavens and the sun may be 
said to dance for joy ; or, as the Psalmist words 
it, * The heavens may rejoice^ and the earth 
may be glad. 

There is then, really speaking, nothing in 
the dancing of the sun upon Easter-day ; but 
yet it is a very ancient and commendable cus* 
lorn to be early up at this holy time : And 
therefore Damascene in his paschal hyrnuy 
sings, -f Let us watch very early in the morn- 
ing ; and, instead of ointment, let us bring an 
hymn to our Lord ; and let us see our 
CiJ RisT, the Sun of Righteousness^ who is the 
life that riseth to all men. And indeed it is 
the most seasonable time for meditating on 
our Lord's resurrection, and its pleasing cir- 
cumstances. For as the place where any no- 
table thing has been transacted, seldom or ne- 
ver fails to raise the idea of the transaction ; so 
the particular time, when it was done, does 
generally produce the same effect. And as 
the truth of the former, was the occasion of 
many holy and religious men going J to visit 

the 

* Psal. xcvi. 11. Ca^liquidem digiii Icetentur, terra autem exul- 
tet. Damasc, in Dominicum Pascha. P. 514. 

■f- Vigilemus mane profundo, & pro unguenti hymnum afferamus 
domino, & Christum videamus justitiae solem omnibus vitam ex*- 
rientcm. IhiW. 
X Fu/k, Test. Cont, Rhcm, Matth. Cap. 2Q. tn mnnoU 



The Common People. 243 

the place of the sepulchre, and hear it, as it 
were, say, what the angel did to the women, 
Come, see the place where the Lord lay : so 
the truth of the latter was the reason, why de- 
vout and holy men, did in the best ages of the 
church, rise early in the morning of the resur- 
rection. The primitive Christians spent the 
night preceding it, in prayers and praises, till 
the time of cock-crow^ the supposed hour of 
our Saviour's rising. For as * Diirant tells 
us, it is universally assented to by the Latin 
church, that after our Saviour had conquered 
death, and broken the gates of hell, he arose 
from the dead, not at midnight, but in the 
morning at the time of cock-crow ; which not 
the cocks, but the angels themselves proclaim- 
ed. And when these pernoctations were laid 
aside, it was the custom to rise early, and 
spend the morning in such a manner as was 
suitable to the nature of the time. The salu- 
tation of the eastern church anestese ; or. The 
LORD is risen^ and the usual answer. The 
T^ORD is risen indeed; were no doubt the 
common salutation of that morning : And if 
this present custom of the vulgar has had at 
any time any laudable custom for its original, 

R 2 it 



* Latlnorum concors est sententia, Christum lion media nocte^ 
verum mane in aurora, canentibus vice Gallorum angelis, devicta 
morte & confractis portis inferi, surrexisse, Durant, d& Rit, Lib* 3. 
Gap. T. 



2M The Antiquities of 

was, no doubt, this of rising early to contem- 
plate the more seasonably on the resurrection 
of Chuist. 

And now, was this the end of rising early 
at that holy time, it would be very advan- 
tageous ; but to rise with the view of the vul- 
gar, is foolish and ridiculous. Would we rise 
before the sun, and prevent the dawn of day, 
our meditations would be strong and vigorous, 
and almost persuade us that the real actions 
of that morn were presented to our view. For 
when at that time all things are hushed in si- 
lence, arid wrapped in darkness, or but illumi- 
nated with the friendly moon, the ** guide of 
Mary Magdalene^ and the other women to the 
sepulchre ; it is easy and natural to meditate 
on these things ; to see our Saviour's tomb ; 
to see the angels sit as guardians on it ; and 
the trembling watch fled into the city. And 
now the LORD is risc?i indeed, and they 
that seek him early shall find him. t Behold 
then Mary Magdalene, on the first day of 
the week, coming from her own house at 

Bethany. 



* Devotae ChristI fa?mintt, quce ilium & ^^vum dilexerant & 
xnortuutti desiderabant, per noctem ambulantes, juvante luna, venc- 
runt ad monumentum. Rupert de Dknn. Officiis, Lib. T. Cap. IS. 

f Maria Magdalena^ cujus domus erat 5w//jw/ir,— -prima 
ante alias una Sabbati juxta joannem, valde diluculo venisset, dilm 
adhuc tenebrsB cssent ad monumentum. Rupert, ibid. 



The Common People, 254 

Bethany, before the other women, verii early 
in the mornings when it was as yet dark *, to 
find ease and consolation at the sepulchre : 
Behold she and the other women bringing the 
prepared spices to embalm their Loud : Be- 
hold Peter and John running to the sepul- 
chre and returning, whilst Mary continues in 
sorrow and tears : And as she weeps, ye may 
see her look into the sepulchre ; but he is not 
there, he is risen. Behold then the guardians 
of the tomb, saying, f* Woman, why weepest 
thou ? Nay behold the Lamb of God himself, 
with the very same words, wiping away the 
tears from her eyes. And JESUS said unto 
her. Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seek- 
est thou ? She supposing him to be the garde- 
ner, saith unto him. Sir, If thou have borne him 
hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and 
I will take him away. JESUS said unto 
her, Mary. With what joy now doth she run 
to his feet, willing and desirous, and eager to 
embrace them. But he bids her not to touch 
him, but go to his brethren-, und say unto them^ 
I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to 
my GOD and your GOD. Behold a httle 
after this, his apparition to her and the other 
women, and how he suffers them to kiss his 

R 3 feet. 

* Abit a loco, volens consolationem quandam invenire, ThO' 
^hylact^ in loc. 
f John XX. 13. &c. 



246 r^g Antiquities, &c. 

feet *. He appeared also about the same time 
to Peter, 

These and the other accidents at our Lord's 
resurrection, would afford us a satisfactory and 
comfortable meditation; would inflame our 
hearts with a burning love, and melt us into 
tears of joy. In our eager wishes and warm 
desires, we should, with the holy women, kiss 
the feet of our Saviour, and be almost partak- 
ers of equal happiness with them ; or, sure we 
are, that we should have our Saviour in our 
hearts, and not fail of seeing him in his king- 
dom. He whom we have so carefully sought 
for, will vouchsafe to be found of us ; in his 
grace, at the sepulchre, and in his glory, in 
heaven. Happy they, who so early seek their 
Saviour ; who long after him, as the hart doth 
after the uattr brooks ; zcho seek him among 
the -f lilies, until the day break, and the sha- 
dows fiee away. Happy they, their conver- 
sation is now in heaven, and their happiness 
hereajter, will be the joys of eternity : If here 
they shall no more be absent, but ever present 

zoiih the LORD. 

OB- 



* Taylor*! Antiq, Christ, de Resurrect, 
•f SoL Song ii. 17. 



Observations^ &c. 247 



OBSERVATIONS 

O N 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

MR Bourne has exhausted the subject of this 
Chapter. The learned Author of the Vul- 
gar Errors >as left us his th(^ughts concerning it 
in the subsequent quotatioi/i ; in which, if the 
matter be not found curious^ the manner perhaps 
will be considered as highly so : *^ We shall not, 
'' I hope, sayis he, disparage the resurrection of 
*' our Redeemer, if we say the sxm doth not dance 
*' on Easter 'day *. — And though we would willing- 
*^ ly assent unto any sympatJietical exultation^ yet 

R 4 " cannot 

* I have heard of, when a boy, and cannot positively say whe- 
ther I have not seen tried, an ingenious method of making an ar- 
tificial sun dance on Easter Sunday j a vessel full of water was set 
in the open air, in which the reflected sun seemed to dance from the 
tremulous motion of the water. This looks not unlike a relique of 
Popish legerdemain : it reminds me of a beautiful simile in the 
Loves of Medea and Jason, in the Argonautics of Apollonius Rho- 
dius : It is there applied to the wavering resolves of a lov©-sip^ 
snaiden. 

H*g 73-oy g» ya,vXS xz^vrxi' « ^ 'iv^cc Kctt ivB'a 
52/' h, &C. 

Reflected from the sun's far cooler ray, 
As quiv'ring beams from tossing water play, 
(Pour'd by some maid into her beachen bowl) 
And ceaseless vibrate as the swellings roll j, 
So heav'd the passions, &c» 



248 OhservationSy &c. 

" cannot conceive therein any more than a fro-: 
^' pical ea^pression. Whether any such motion 
**^ there were in that day wherein Christ arised ; 
" Scripture hath not revealed, which hath been 
** punctual in other records, concerning salary 
*' miracles ; and the Areopagite, that was amazed 
*' at the eclipse, took no notice of this : And if 
*^ metaphorical expressions go so far, we may be 
*^ bold to affirm, not only that one sun danced, but 
*' two aldose that day. That light appeared at his 
*' nativity, and darkness at his death, and yet a light 
*' at both ; for even that darhiess was a light w^- 
*' to the Gentiles, illuminated by that obscurity, 
'' That 'tw<is the first time the sun set above the 
*' horizon. That although there were darJcness 
*' above the earth, there was light beneath it, nor 
*' dare we say, that hell was dark if he were in it." 

This is a fine senigmatical way of reasonmg, and 
from the turn of his discourse, one might have 
asked, (with the Butler^s compliment to Vellum 
in the Haunted House) if it were not to be too lu* 
dicrous upon a solemn subject ; " I fancy. Master 
" Doctor, you could make a riddle." 

For the Pasche, vulgo jmste, or Easter eggs, with 
which children entertain themselves here in the 
North at this season, and of which Mr Bourne 
has taken no notice, see the Appendix, in verbo 
pasche or paste eggs, 

CHAP. 



\ 



The Antiquities^ Sec* 



U9 



CHAP. XXIV 



Of Easter Holy-days : A time of Relaxation 
from Labour : How observed in the dark 
ages of Popery : That our customs at this 
time are sprung from theirs, 

ON the holy-days of Easter^ it is customary 
for M^ork to cease, and servants to be at 
liberty : Which is a resemblance of the prac- 
tice of the primitive church, which set apart the 
whole week after Easter^ for to praise and glo- 
rify God, for our Saviour^s resurrection : In 
which * time all servile labour ceased, that ser- 
vants as well as others might be present at the 
devotions of the season. But other customs so 
frequently observed at this time, such as public 
shows, gamings, horse-races, &c. were forbid- 
den, as being foreign to the holiness of this 
season. 

In after ages, when the church fell into cor- 
ruption, and the substance of religion decayed 
into the shadow of ceremonies, the usual pray- 
ers and praises of the season were either much 
neglected, or but superficially observed. For 

BelithuSy 

* Servos autem &. ancillas ac omnes, qui nostro servitio sunt 
addicti, profecto ab omni servitutis severitate eos hoc tempcare laxare 

debemus. Ut libere & secure omnes possint ad audiendum 

^ivinum officiuiu convenire, & communicare. Belith Cap, 117. 



250 The Antiquities^ &c. 

Belithus^ a ritualist of those times, tells us, * 
That it was customary in some churches, for 
the bishops and arch-bishops themselves to play 
with the inferior clergy, even at hand-ball ; 
and this also, as Durandus witnesseth, t even 
on Easter-day itself. This was called X the li- 
berty of December, because that formerly it 
was customary among the heathens in that 
month to indulge their servants with a certain 
time of liberty ; when they were on the level 
with their masters, and feasted and banqueted 
Mdth them. 

Why they should play at hand-ball at this 
time rather than any other game, I have not 
been able to find out ; but I suppose it will be 
readily granted, that this custom of so playing, 
was the original of our present recreations and 
diversions on Easter holy-days^ and in particu- 
lar of playing at hand-ball for a % tanzy-cake, 
which at this season, is generally practised ; 
and I would hope practised with harmlessness 
and innocence. For when the common devo- 
tions 

* Sunt enim nonnullx eccle^iae, In quibus usitatum est, ut vel 
etlam eplscopi & archicpiscopi in caenoblis cum suis ludant sub- 
ditis, ita ut etiam ad lusum pilse demittant, &.c. Belith, C. 120. 

f In quibusdam locis hac die. Vid, Pasc/i, (b'c. Durand, Lib. 6. 
cap, 86. 

X Atque haec quidem, Libertas ideo dicta est. Decfmbrica, &c» 
Belith. ibid, 

§ Vid, Seid. Table Talk of Christ mas. 



Observations^ Sec, 251 

tlons of the day are over, there is nothing sinful 
in lawful recreation. But for the governors of 
churches to descend to such childish exercises, 
and that even on the great Sunday of the 
year, was not only unbecoming their gravity and 
reserved ness, but was also a down right breach 
of the fourth commandment. But these were 
ages of ignorance and darkness, when the world 
was taught for the doctrines of GOD ^ the com-- 
7nandments of men. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Festa dies quottes rediit^ concessaque rite 
Otia, purpureoque rubentes lumine soles, 
Invitant. 

Mons Catherinae, p. 1. 

BY the \m concerning hoHdays, mentioned 
before in the observations on chapter 17th, 
and made in the time of King Alfred the Great, 
it was appointed that the week after Easter should 
be kept holy. ColHer's Ecclesiastical Hist. Vol. I. 
p. 163. 

Fitzstephen tells us of an Easter holiday amuse- 
ment used in his time at London, " they fight 
." battles, sa3^s he, on the water, a shield is hang- 

« ed 



232 Ohservatiojis on 

" ed upon a pole, fixed in the midst of the stream ; 
" a boat is prepared without oars, to be carried by 
" violence of the water, and in the forepart there- 
'* of standeth a young man, ready to give charge 
" upon the shield with his launce. — If so be he 
" break his launce against the shield, and do not 
" fall, he is thought to have performed a worthy 
*' deed, — if so be without breaking his launce, he 
" runneth strongly again the shield, down he fall- 
" eth into the water, for the boat is violently for- 
" ced with the tide ; but on each side of the shield 
^^ ride two boats, furnished with young men, 
*' which recover him that falleth as soon as they 
^' may. — Upon the bridge, wharfs, and houses by 
*' the river's side, stand great numbers to see and 
" laugh thereat^^ Stow, p. 76. 

Mr Bourne confesses himself to be entirely igno- 
rant of the reasons why they play at hand-ball * 
at this time, rather than any other game. — I find 

ill 

* Erasmus speaking of the Proverb, " Mea est P///7," that is, 
" Pve got the hall i'"' tells us that it signifies, " I have obtained 
" the victory, I am master of ray Avishes.'* — The Romanists cer- 
tainly erected a standard on Easter day, in token of our Lord'*s vic- 
tory, but it would perhaps be indulging fancy too far, to suppos*; 
that the bishops and governors of churches, Avho^sed to condescend 
to play at hand-ball at this time, did it in a mynKal way, and with 
reference to the triumphal joy of the seasons. — Certain it is how- 
ever, that many of their customs and superstitions are founded 
on still more trivial circumstances, than even this imaginary ana- 
logy. 

It was an ancient custom for the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff oi 
Newcastle, accompanied with great numbers of the burgesses, to 
go every year at the feasts of Easter and Whitsuntide to the 
Forth, (the little mall of our town) with the maces, sword, and 
cap of maintenance carried before them. The young people of 
the town still assemble there, (at this season particularly,) play at 
hand-ball, dance, &.c. but are no longer countenanced in their in- 
mocent festivity by the presence of their governors, who, no doubt, 
in ancient times, used to unbend the bow of authority, and par- 
take 



Chapier XXIV. 253 

in J. Boamus Aubanus* * description of ancient 
rites in his country, that there were at this season 

foot courses in the meadows, in which the victors 
carried off a cake given to be ru7i for, as we say, 
by some better sort of person in the neighbour- 
hood. — Sometimes two cakes were proposed, one 
for the young men, another for the girls, and 
there was a great concourse of people on the oc- 
casion. — This is a custom by no means unlike our 

forth meetings on these holidays. — The winning a 
tanzy cake at the game of hand'hall t, depends 
chiefly upon swiftness of foot : It too is a trial 
of fleetness and speed, as well as the foot race. 

Tansy, says Selden, in the subsequent curious 
passage in his Table Talk, was taken from the 

hitter 



take, with their happy and contented people, the puerile pleasures 
of the festal season. 

* In paschate vulgo placentice plnsuntur,, quarum una, Interdum 
duae, adolescentibus una, puellls altera, a ditiore aliquo propoiiun-- 
tur : pro quibus In prato, ubi ante noctem ingens hominum con- 
cursus fit, quique agiles pedestres currant. P, 268. 

\ I find the following beautiful description In the Mons CatliC' 
rime : We may apply It to this game, 
His datur, Orblculum 
Praecipiti — levem per gramma mittere lapsu : 
Ast allls, qnomm pedibus Jiducia major, 



Sectari, et jam jam salient! Inslstere praedae 5 



Aut volltantem alte longeque per aera pulsum 
Susplclunt, pronosque inhlant, captantque volatus, 
Sortltl fortunam oculls ; manlbusque paratis 
Expectant propiorem, Interclpluntque caducum. P. 6. 

The two last lines compose a very fine periphrasis for the north- 
ern word KEPPiNG, which is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cepan, 
captarc, advertere, curare. 



254 Observations^ &c. 

Utter herhs in use among the Jews at this season, 
" Our meats and our sports have much of them 
'^ relation to church-works. — The coffin of our 
*' Christmas pies ^ in shape long, is in imitation of 
" the cratch * : Our chusing kings and queens 
" on twelfth night, hath reference to the three 
" kings. — So likewise our eating of fritters, "ivhip- 
" ping of tops, roasting of herrings. Jack of lents, 
" &c. they are all in imitation of church-works, 
" emblems of martyrdom. Our tansies at Eastet^ 
*' have reference to the bitter herbs ; though at 
" the same time *twas always the fashion for a 
^' man to have a gammon of bacon, to shew himself 
" to be no Jew.'* V. Christmas. 

Durand t tells us, that on Easter Tuesday mves 
used to beat their husbands, on the day following 
the hicsbands their uives. There is a custom still 
retained at the city of Durham on these holi- 
days : On one day the men take off the women's 
shoes, which are only to be redeemed by a pre- 
sent ; on another day the women take off the 
men's in like manner. 

CHAP. 

* Rack or manger. — Among the IMSS. of Bernet College, Cam- 
bridge, is a Translation of Part of the New Testament in the 
English spoken after the conquest. — The 7 ven>e of the 2d Chap^ 
of Luke, is thus rendered, " And layde hym in a cratche, for to 
" hym was no place in the dijversoryy I will venture to subjoin 
another specimen, which strongly marks the mutability of language : 
I\Iark vi. 22. " When the daughtyr of Herodyas was incomyn and 
" had tombylde and pleside to Harowde, &c.'" 
. If the original Greek had not been preser\'ed, one might have 
supposed from this English, that, instead of excelling in the grace- 
ful accomphishment of dancing, the young lady had performed in 
?ome exhibition, like the present entertainments at Sadlers Wells I 

f In plerisque etiam regionibus mulieres secundadie post pascba 
verbe/'aat maritQS su9S ; die vero tertia mariti uxores suas. 

Durand. lib. 6. c 86. 9. 



The Antiquities, &c. 255 

CHAP. XXV. 

Of May-day ; the Custom of going to tlce 
Woods the Night before ; this the Practice 
of other nations : The Original of it ; the 
XJnlazvfulness. 

ON the calends, or the first day of May, 
commonly called May-day ^ the juvenile 
part of both sexes were wont to rise a little af- 
ter midnight, and walk to some neighbouring 
wood, accompanied with music and the blow- 
ing of horns ; where they break down branches 
from the trees, and adorn them with nose-gays 
and crowns of flowers. When this is done, 
they return with their booty homewards, about 
the rising of the sun, and make their doors and 
Avindows to triumph in the flowery spoil. The 
after part of the day is chiefly spent in dancing 
round a tall pole, which is called a May-pole : 
which being placed in a convenient part of the 
Tillage, stands there, as it were consecrated to 
the goddess of flowers, without the least vio- 
lation offered it, in the whole circle of the year. 
And this is not the custom of the British 
common people only, but it is the custom of 
the generality of other nations; particularly 
of the Italians, where Polydore Virgil telb 



256 The Antiquities, 8cc. 

us, the * youth of both sexes were accustom* 
e.d to go into the fields, on the calends of May^ 
and bring thence the branches of trees, sing- 
ing all the way as they came, and so plac^ 
them on the doors of their houses. 

f This is the relic of an ancient custom a- 
mong the heathen, who observed the four last 
days of April, and the first of Mai/, in ho- 
nour of the goddess Flora, who was imagined 
the deity presiding over the fruit and flowers. 
It was observed with all manner of obscenity 
and lewdness, and the undecent sports and 
postures of naked women, who were called to- 
gether with the noise of trumpets, and danced 
before the spectators. 

From this custom of the heathens hath 
ours undoubtedly come ; and though for that 
reason barely, it need not be laid aside ; yet 
forasmuch as many country people are of 

opinion, 

* Est autem consuetudinis, ut juventus promiscul sexus Laetae- 
bunda cal. Maii exeat in agros, &. cantitans inde virides reportct 
arborum ramos eosque ante demorum fores ponat praesertim apud 

lia/os, &c. Po/y. Virg. 302. 

f Celebrabantur autem hae ferice atque ludi, lactantio teste cum 
omni lascivia verbis &. moribus pudcndis, ad placandam deam, qua 
floribus & fructibus praeerat. Nam per tubam convocabantur om- 
nis generis meretrices. Unde Juvenalis. 

Dignissima prorsus 

Flora/i Matrona Tuba 

Ex in theatro dcnudaUe, &c. 

Hospi 4e Orig. Eth, 159* 



Observations, &c. 257 

opinion, * that the observation of this cere- 
mony is a good omen, and a procurer of the 
success of the fruits of the earth, which is en- 
tirely a piece of superstition ; and because al- 
so much wickedness and debauchery are com- 
mitted that night, to the scandal of whole fa- 
milies, and the dishonour of religion, there is 
all the reason in the world for laying it aside. 

* Sic nos tunc eo anni tempore, cum virent omnia, quasi per hune 
modum, fructuum ubertatem ominamur, ac ben« precamur. P«« 
/^^. Vi'rg. 302. 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XXV. 

IN the old calendar of the Romish Church 
above cited, there is the following observation 
on the 30th of April : 



" The boys go oiit and seek May-trees 



* » 



Stow tells us, in his Survey of London f , that 
in the month of May, namely, on May-day in the 

S morning, 

* Mail Arbores a Pueris exquiruntur. 

f The mayings, says Mr Strutt, are in some sort yet kept up 
by the milkmaids at London, who go about the streets with their 
garlands and music, dancing : but this is tracing a very imperfeet 
shadow of the original) for May-poles were set up in the streets, 

Tfith 



258 Observations on 

morning, every man, except impediment, would 
walk into the sweet meadows and green woods, 
there to rejoice their spirits with the beauty and 
savour of sweet flowers, and with the harmony of 
birds praising God in their kind. 

He quotes from Hall an account of Henry the 
Eighth's riding a maying^ from Greenwich to the 
high ground of Shooter's Hill, with Queen Ka- 
therine his wife, accompanied with many lords 
and ladies. 

He further tells us, " I find also that in the 
" month of May^ the citizens of London (of all 
" estates) lightly in every parish, or sometimes 
*' two or three parishes joining together, had their 
" several Mayings *, and did fetch in May -poles 

with 

with various martial shews, morris-dancing, and other devices, with 
which, and revelling and good cheer, the day was pa3sed away. At 
night they rejoiced and lighted up their boncfires. English i^ra. 
Vol. II. p. 99. 

* Mr Pennant tells us, that on the first of May, in the High- 
lands of Scotland, the herdsmen of every village hold their behetn^ 
a rural sacrifice : They cut a square trench in the ground, leaving 
the turf in the middle •, on that they make a fire of wood, on which 
they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oat-meal, and milk, and 
bring, besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and 
whiskey •, for each of the company must contribute something. The 
rites begin with spilling some of the caudle on the ground by way 
of libation : On that every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upoii wliich 
are raised nine square knobn, each dedicated to some particular be- 
ing, ihe supposed preserver of their flocks and herds, or to some par- 
ticular animal, the real destroyer of them : Each person then tum^ 
his fiace to the fire, breaks off a knob, and flinging it over his shoul- 
ders, says, this I give to thee, preserve thou my horses ', this to 
thee, preserve thou my sheep j and so on : After that, they 
use the same ceremony to the noxious animals. This I give 
to thee, O Fox ! spare thou my lambs : this to thee, O hooded 
Crow ! this to thee, O Eagle ! Wlien the ceremony is over, they 
dine on the caudle, and aft«r the f«ast is finished, what is left is hid 

hv 



Chapter XXV. 259 

<* witli divers warlike shews, with good archers, 
" morrice dancers, and other devices for pastime 
" all the day long ; and towards the evening they 
" had stage-plaies and bone-fires in the streets.'* 
And again he says, " In the Reign of Henry the 
" Sixth, the aldermen and sheriffs of London, be- 
" ing on May 'day at the bishop of London's wood, 
" and having there a worshipful dinner for them- 
" selves and other comers, Lydgate, the monk 
" of Bury, sent them, by a pursuivant, a joyful 
" commendation of that season, beginning thus : 

" Mighty Flora, goddess of fresh flov/'rs, 

" Which clothed hath the soil in lusty green, 

" Made buds to spring with her sweet show'rs, 

** By influence of the sun sheene, 

** To do pleasance of intent full cleane, 

" Unto the states which now sit here 

'* Hath ver sent down her own daughter dear *»" 

p. 80. 

S2 Mr 

by two persons deputed for that purpose *, but on the next Sunday 
they re-assemble, and finish the reliques of the entertainment. P. 
91. 

* Browne, in his Britannia's Pastorals, thus describes some of the 
May revellings ; 

As I have scene the lady of the May 

Set in an arbour 

Built by the May -pole ^ where the jocund swaines 

Dance with the maidens to the bagpipes straines. 

When envious night commands them to be gone, 

Call for the merry youngsters one by one. 

And for their well performance soone disposes, 

To this, a garland interwove with roses : 

To that, a carved Jiooke, or well- wrong lit scrip, 

Gracing another with her cherry lip : 

To one her garter, to another then 

A handkerchief cast o'^er and o''er agcn : 

And none returneth empty, that hath spent 

His pains to fill th&ir rural merriment ; 

So, &c. P. 122. 



260 Observations on 

Mr Borlase, in his curious account of the man- 
ners of Cornwall, tells us, " An ancient custom, 
" still retained by the Cornish, is that of decking 
" their doors and porches on the first of May with 
" green sycamore and hawthorn boughs, and of 
" planting trees, or rather stumps of trees, be- 
" fore their houses : And on May eve, they from 
" towns make excursions into the country, and 
*' having cut down a small elm, brought it into 
*' town, fitted a straight and taper pole to the 
*^ end of it, and painted the same, erect it in the 
" most public places, and on holidays and festi- 
" vals adorn it with flower gai'lands, or insigns 
" and streamers.'* He adds, " This usage is no- 
" thing more than a gratulation of the spring 
" season ; and every house exhibited a proper sig- 
. " nal of its approach, to testify their universal 
"joy at the revival of vegetation." 

The author of the pamphlet, entitled, " The 
" Avay to Things by Words, and to Words by 
" Things," in his specimen of an Etymological 
Vocabulary, considers the Maij-pole * in a new and 
curious light : We gather from him that our an- 
cestors held an anniversary assembly on May-day ; 
the column of the May (whence our May-pole) was 
the great standard of justice in the ey-comnions^ or 
Jields of May, Here it was that the people, if 
they saw cause, deposed or punished their gover- 
nors, their barons, their kings. — The judge's 

bough 

* Dr Moresia gives us his opinion concerning the origin of this 
custom in the following Avords : " Ma to mense ex ire in Agros &. 
*' cantando viriJem frondem reportare^ quam in Domihus &. Do- 
" morum foribus appendant, aut a FlorOy lascivnoe Komanae Dca, 
"aut ab Atheniensibus est." Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 91. 



Chapter XXV. 26 1 

bough or wand (at this time discontinued, and on- 
ly faintly represented by a trifling nosegay)^ and 
the staff or rod of authority in the civil and in the 
military (for it was a mace of civil power, and the 
truncheon of the field officers) are both derived 
hence. — A mayor^ he says, received his name 
from this May^ in the sense of lawful power. — 
The crown^ a mark of dignity and symbol of 
power, like the mace and sceptre^ was also taken 
itomiliQ May ^ being representative of the garland 
or crown^ which, when hung on the top of the 
may or pole^ was the great signal for convening 
the people. — The arches of it, which spring from 
the circlet and meet together at the mound or 
round ball, being necessarily so formed as to sus- 
pend it on the top of the pole. 

The word May-pole^ he observes, is a pleo- 
nasm ; in French it is called singly the Mai, 

This is, he farther tells us, one of the ancient- 
est customs, which, from the remotest ages, has 
been by repetition from year to year, perpetuated 
down to our days, not being at this instant to- 
tally exploded, especially in the lower class of 
life. — It was considered as the boundary day^ that 
divided the coiifines of ttwferand summer^ allusive- 
ly to which, there was instituted a sportful war- 
betv/een two parties ; the one in defence of the 
continuance of winter, the other for bringing in 
the summer, — The youth were divided into troops, 
the one in winter livery, the other in the gay 
habit of spring.— The mock battle was always 
fought booty, the spring was sure to obtain the 

S3 mctojy. 



262 Observations, &c. 

'victory, which they celebrated by carrying * tri- 
umphally green branches with May Jlou'ers, pro- 
claiming and singing the song of joy, of which the 
burthen was, in these or equivalent terms : 
" We have brought the summer home t." 

CHAP. 

* I have more than once been disturbed early on May morning 
at Newcastle, by the noise of a song, which a woman sung about 
the streets, who had several garlands in her hand, and which, if I 
mistake not, she sold to any who were superstitious enough to buy 
them. — It is homely and /ou;, but it must be remembered that our 
Treatise is not " on the sublime :" 

Rise 2ip, maidens ! fij for shame, 
Tve been four long miles fiom hame ; 
Tve been gathering my garlands gay. 
Rise up, fair maids, and take in your ISIay. 

Here is no pleonasm : it is singly^ as the French have it, your 
May. 

'* f Suecis Meridionalibus, et Gothis, longisslmo provinciarum 
*■*• spatio a polo remotis, alius ritus est, ut primo die Maiiy sole 
** per Taurum agente cursum, duplices a magistratibus urbium 
*' constituantur robustorum juvenum & virorum equestres turmae, 
** seu Cohortes, tanquam ad durum aliquem conflictum progressurae, 
** quarum altera sorte deputato duce dirigitur : qui Hyemis titulo 
** &. habitu, variis indutus pellibus, hastis focalibus armatus, glo- 
** batas nives, et crustatas glacies spargens, ut frigora prolonget, 
** obequitat victoriosus : eoque duriorera se simulat, et cfficit, quo 
** ab vaporariis stiriae glacialcs dependere videntur. Rursumque 
** alterius equestris cohortis praefectus JEstatisj Comes JlorUias 
" appeilatus, virentibus arborum frondibus, foliisque et floribus 
** (difficulter repertis) vestitus, aestivalibus indumentis parum se- 
" curis, ex c3mpo cum duce Hyemali^ licet separate loco et ordine, 
** Civitates ingrediuntur, hastisque edito spectaculo publico, quod 
^* JEstas hyemem exuperet^ experiuntur." 

Olai Magni. Gent. Septent. Hist. Brev. p. 338. 



The Antiquities^ ^c, 263 

CHAP. XXVI. 

Of Parochial perambulations : Their Antiqui- 
ty, the benefit and advantages of them. 

IT was a general custom formerly, and is still 
observed in some country parishes, to go 
round the bounds and limits of the parish, on 
one of the three days before Holy Thursday, 
or the feast of our LORD's Ascension ; whea 
the minister, accompanied with his church-war^ 
dens and parishioners, were wont to deprecate 
the vengeance of God, beg a blessing on the 
fruits of the earth, and preserve the rights and 
properties of their parish. 

The original of this custom is dated from 
the times of the heathens. For * from the 
days of Numa Popilius, they worshipped the 
god Terminus, whom they looked upon to be 
the guardian of felds and landmarks, and 
the keeper up of friendship and peace among 
men : Upon this account the feast called 
Terminalia, was dedicated to him ; instead of 
which it is a very ancient custom to surround 

S 4 the 

* Refert Plutarchus in Problem 13. Numam Popiiium cum 
finltimis agri termlnis constituisse, & In ipsis finibus Terminum 
Deum, quasi finium praesldem amicitiaeque, ac pacis custodem po. 
Suisse. Festa ei dicata quae Terminalia nuncupantur, quorum vice 
nos quotannis ex vetustlssima consuetudine parochiarum terminos 
lustramus. Spelm. Gloss, in Verbo* Perambulat, 



264 The Antiquities oj 

the bounds of parishes every year : And in- 
stead of heathenish rites and sacrifices to an 
imaginary God, to offer praises and prayers 
to the true God, the God of the whole earth. 
The custom was, the people accompanied the 
bishop, or some of the clergy into the JieldSy 
where litanies were made, and the mercy of 
God implored, that he would avert the evils of 
plague and pestilence, that he would send them 
good and seasonable weather, and give them 
the fruits of the earth in due season. 

The litanies or rogations, which were * 
then made use of, and gave name to the 
time of rogation-week^ were first observed by 
Mamertus^ Bishop of Vienna^ in the year 530, 
^f- on account of the frequent earthquakes 
that happened, and the incursions of wild 
beasts, which laid in ruins, and depopulated 
the city. Not that litanies and rogations 
were not used before, but that before this 

time 

* It is called rogation-week, because of that prayer and fasting 
tliat was then used, for to supplicate GOD for his blessing on the 
fruits of the earth. It is also in some places called cross-week, be- 
cause in ancient times, when the priests went into the fields, the 
cross was carried before them. In the northern parts it is called 
gang-week, from to gang, which in the North signifies to go. 

f Dum civitas Viennensium crebro terrae motu subrueretur & 
bestiarum desolaretur incursu, sanctus Mamerfus ejus civitatis epis- 
copus, eas legitur pro malis, quae praemissimus, ordinasse. Walifred. 
StraL C,2S,de Reb, Eeclesiast. 



The Common People. 



265 



time they were not affixed to these days. 
And since that, they have been observed of 
the whole church at this season, except the 
church of* Spam, who chused rather to have 
them after Pentecost than before it ; because 
from Easter-day to the feast of Pentecost, it 
was the custom of the church not to fast : For 
as they themselves reasoned, the children of 
the bride-chamber cannot fast so long as the 
bridegroom is with than : and therefore they 
held their rogation after Pentecost. 

What now remains among us, is the relic 
of this ancient and laudable custom, which 
was always observed in the old church of Eng- 
land, and has been also in some measure since 
the reformation too. 

In -f the canons of Cuthbert, archbishop of 
Canterbury, which were made at Cloves-hoo, 
in the year T^Tj it was ordered that litanies^ 
that is, rogations, should be observed of the 

clergy 

* Hispani autem, propter hoc quod scriptum est, non possum 
Jilii sponsi lugere quamdiu cum illis est sponsus, infra quinquagcs- 
simam paschae recusantes jejunare, litanios suos post pentecosten 
posuerunt. Walaf. Strah, ibid, 

f Concil. ClovesJiovice sub Cuthhert : Arch. Cant, An, 747. 
Cap, 16. Ut Litaniae, i. e. rogationes, a clero omnique populo his 
diebus cum magna reverentia agantur, id est, septimo kalendarum 
Maiarum]yxsX2i ritum Romance ecclesiae, quae & litania major apud 
earn vocatur : Et item quoque secundum morem priorum nostro- 
rum tertiae dies ante ascentionem domini nostri in caelos, cum jeju- 
nio, &c. Spelman, Gloss. 369. 



266 The Antiquities of 

clergy, and all the people with great reverence 
on th^se days, viz, the seventh of the kalends 
of May^ according to the rites of the church 
of Rome^ who termeth this the greater litany ; 
and also according to the custom of our fore- 
fathers, on the three days before the ascension 
of our Lord into the heavens, with fasting, 
&c. And in the injunctions made in the reign 
of Queen EUzabeth, it is ordered, " * That the 
" curate, at certain and convenient places, 
" shall admonish the people to give thanks to 
*' God, in the beholding of God's benefits ; for 
^' the increase and abundance of his fruits up- 
" on the face of the earth, with the saying of 
*' the 103 Psalm, &c. at which time tie mi- 
" nister shall inculcate these or such sentences 
" Cursed be he which translateth the bounds 
" and doles of his neighbours : Or such orders 
*' of prayers as shall be hereafter/' 

Agreeable to this we read, in the life of the 
pious Hooker^ " t That he would by no means 
*' omit the customary time of procession, per- 
" suading all, both rich and poor, if they de- 
" sired the preservation of love, and their pa- 
" rish rites and liberties^ to accompany him in 
" his perambulation, and most did so ; in which 
" perambulation, he would usually express more 

" pleasant 

* Injunct, 19. Eli%, 
f Walt, in Vit, Hookeri, 



The Coynmon People, 



267 



•* pleasant discourse, than at other times, and 
" would then always drop some loving and 
*' facetious observations, to be remembered a- 
" gainst the next year, especially by the boys 
" and young people : Still inclining them, and 
" all his present parishioners, to meekness and 
*' mutual kindness and love; because love thinks 
" not evil, but covers a multitude of injirmi- 
" ties!' 

We may also observe, that the particular 
office ordered by our church for Rogation- 
Sunday, is exactly suited to the nature of the 
season ; that the three days following are ap- 
pointed fasts by our church, and that one of 
our church homilies is composed particularly, 
for the parochial perambulation. All which 
shews the custom and intention of the church, 
and that the practising of it would be service- 
able to the sons of men ; would save their lives 
from destruction, and croziDn them with mercy 
and loving kindness ; would send them springs 
into their rivers, and make them run among 
the hills : Would bring forth grass for the 
cattle, and green herb for the service of men. 



OB- 



268 Observations on 

OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE -word parochia or parish anciently signifi-. 
ed what we now call the diocese of a bi- 
shop. — In the early ages of the Christian church, 
as kings founded cathedrals, so great men found- 
ed parochial churches, for the conversion of them- 
selves and their dependents ; the bounds of the 
parochial division, being commonly the same with 
those of the founder's jurisdiction. Some foun- 
dations of this kind were as early as Justinian the 
emperor. Bede mentions them about 700. 

Before the reign of Edward the Confessor, the 
parochial divisions in this kingdom were so far 
advanced, that every person might be traced to 
the parish to which he belonged. — This appears by 
the canons published in the time of Edgar and 
Canute. The distinction of parishes as they now 
stand, appears to have been settled before the Nor- 
man conquest : In Doomsday book, the parishes 
agree very near to the modern division. See 
Collier's Eccl. Hist. Vol. I. p. 231.— Camden tells 
us, that this kingdom was first divided into pa- 
rishes by Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
A. D. 6SQ^ and counts 2984 parishes. — The Late- 
ran coimcil made some such divisions as this : It 
compelled every man to pay tythes to his parish 
priest; men before that time paid them to 
whom they pleased ; since then, it has happened 

that 



Chapter XXVI. 269 

that few, if they could be excused from doing it, 
would care to pay them at all. 

Blount tells us, that rogation week, (Saxon 
Gangdagas, i. e. days of perambulation *) is al- 
ways the next but one before Whitsunday : And 
so called, because on Monday, Tuesday, and 
Wednesday of that week, rogations and litanies 
were used: and fasting, or at least abstinence 
then enjoined by the church to all persons, not 
only for a devout preparative to the feasts of 
Christ's glorious ascension, and the descent of the 
Holy Ghost shortly after, but also to request and 
supplicate the blessing of God upon the fruits of 
the earthi — And in this respect, the solemniza- 
tion of matrimony is forbidden, from the first day 
of the said week, till Trinity Sunday. 

The Dutch call it cruys week, i. e. cross week, 
and so it is called in some parts of England, be- 
cause of old (as still among Roman Catholics) 
when the priests went on procession this week, 
the cross was carried before them t. 

In 

* J. Boemus Aubanus tells us, that in Franconia, in his time, 
the following rites were used on this occasion, some of which arc 
still retained at Oxford. 

" Tribus illis diebus, quibus apostolico institute, majores lita- 
** niae passim per totum orbem peraguntur, in plurimis Franconias 
** locis multcE cruces (sic enim dicunt Parochianos Caetus, quibus 
" turn sanctae Crucis Vexillum praeferri solet) conveniunt. In sa- 
** crisque aedibus non simul et unam melodiam, sed singulae singu- 
" lam per choros seperatim canunt : et puellae & adolescentes mun- 
*' diori quique habitu amicti frondentibus sertis caput coronati om- 
** nes & scipionibus salignis instructi. Stant sacrarum cedimn sa~ 
** cer dotes diligenter singularum cantus attendentes .' et quamcun- 
** que suavius cantare cognoscunt, illi ex veteri more aliquot viui 
** conchos dari adjudicant." P. 269. 

■\ At Oxford, at this time, the little crosses cut in the stones of 

buildings, 



\ '\ 



270 Observations^ &c. 

In the Inns of Court, he adds, ft is called 
grass week, because the commons of that week 
consist much of salads, hard eggs, and green 
sauce upon some of the days. — The feast of the 
old Romans called rohigalia and ambarvaUa, (quod 
Victima arva ambiret) did in their heathenish 
way somewhat resemble these institutions, and 
were kept in May, in honour of Robigus. 

CHAR 

buildings, to denote the division of the parishes, are whited with 
chalk. Great numbers of boys, with pilled willow rods in their 
hands, accompany the minister, &.c. in the procession. 

On ascenxion-day the magistrates, river jury, &c. of the corpo- 
ration of Newcastle upon Tyne, according to an ancient custom, 
make their annual procession by 'water in their barges, visiting the 
bounds of their jurisdiction on the river, to prevent encroachments, 
&c. — Cheerful libations are offered on the occasion to the genius 
of our wealthy j^oo</, which Milton calls the coaiy Tyne : 

The sabie stores, on whose majestic strand. 
More tribute yield than Tagus' golden sand. 

In the painted hall at Greenwich hospital the. genius of the Tyn 
is represented pouring forth his coal in great abundance. — There 
is the Severn with her lampreys, and the Humber with his pigs of 
lead, which with Thames and the Tyne^ compose the four great ri- 
vers of England. 



The Antiquities, &c. 271 

CHAP, xxvir. 

Of Midsiimmer'Eve : Of kindling fires, their 
Original : That this Custom formerly was 
superstitious, but now may be used with in^ 
nocence. 

ON the eve of St John Baptist, commonly 
called midsummer-eve, it is usual in the 
most of country places, and also here and 
there in towns and cities, for both old and 
young to meet together, and be merry over a 
large fire, which is made in the open street. 
Over this they frequently leap and play at va- 
rious games, such as running, wrestling, dan- 
cing, &c. But this is generally the exercise of 
the younger sort ; for the old ones, for the most 
part, sit by as spectators, and enjoy themselves 
and their bottle. And thus they spend the 
time till midnight, and sometimes till cock^ 
erow, 

Belithus tells us, * That it was a custom to 
carry lighted torches on midsummer-eve, as an 
emblem of St John Baptist, who was a burn- 
ing and a shining light, and the preparer of 

the 

* Consuetum Item hac vigilia ardentes deFerri faeillas, quod Joan^ 
nes fuerit ardens lucerna & qui domini vlas praeparaverit. Belith^ 
Exj^lkat. Div, Offic, C 137. P. ^56. 6" Duran4. Cap, 14. Lib, 7. 






2/2 The Antiquities of 

the way of Christ. But if this was the rea- 
son of this custom formerly, as it is probable 
it was, (it having been a common thing, to sha- 
dow out times and seasons by emblems ;) yet 
the custom still continued among us, was ori- 
ginally instituted upon another bottom. 

And indeed the * original of this custom is- 
heathenish. For in ancient times the dra- 
gons, being incited to lust through the heat 
of the season, dii frequently, as they flew 
through the air, spermatize in the wells and 
fountains. By this means the water became 
infected, and the air polluted ; so that who- 
ever drank the waters, was either tormented 
with a grievous distemper, or lost his life. As 
soon as the physicians perceived this, they or- 
dered fires to be made every where about 
the wells and fountains, and those things 
which occasioned the noisomest smell to be 
burnt, knowing that thereby the dragons 
M^ould be driven away. And forasmuch as 
this custom was observed about the time we 

now 

* Habcnt hoc a gentlbus, antlquitus enlm dracones hoc tempore 
ad libidinem propter calorem excitati, volando per aerem frequenter 
in puteos & fontes spennatizabant, ex quo, &c. Hoc animadver- 
tentes medici, Ignes frequenter &. passim circa fontes fieri j & quae- 
cunque magnum &c immundum redderint fumum ibi cremari, &c. 
Et quia talia hoc tempore maxime fiebant, ideo hoc adhuc ab ali- 
quibus observatux. Durand, L, 7. C, 14. <b' Belith, in eodfm 
Fes* 



The Common People. 



^rs 



now celebrate St John Baptist's feast, it is 
therefore still observed among some people. 
And agreeable to this it is, that Mr Cambden 
tells us, that Barnwell, a village near Cam- 
bridge, got its name from the children playing 
about a well on St John Baptist^s eve. 

The custom of kindling such fires was se* 
verely censured by the church : And therefore 
in the council of Trullus, this canon was made 
against it, * That if any clergyman or layman 
observed the rite of making on fires on 
the nezshmoon, (which some were wont to ob- 
serve, and according to an old custom, to leap 
over them in a mad and foolish manner,) he 
should be deposed, if the former ; if the latter^ 
he should be excommunicated. 

The Scholiast upon this canon hath these 
words : The new-moon was aUvays the first 
day of the month, and it was customary among 
the Jezc^s and Greeks, to hold then a feast, 
and pray that they might be lucky during the 
continuance of the month. Of these it was 
that God spake by the prophet : My soulhat- 
eth your new-moons and your sabbaths. And 
not only this, but they also kindled fires before 
their shops and houses, and leaped over them ; 
imagining that all the evils which had befallen 

T them 



Can, 65. in Synod. TrulL ex Ba/s, P . 440. 



274 The Antiquities^ &c. 

them forraerlj, would be burnt away, and that 
they should be more successful and luckv after- 
wards. Now, about the sitting of this synod^ 
there were son:je of the Christians who observed 
this custom upon the same accounts that the 
heathens did, which occasioned its being forbid 
by the council ; and that if a cltrgyman waj?' 
guilty of it, he should be deposed ; if a Imj- 
man^ excommunicated. He also tells u-s tj;iat 
on St John Baptisfs ere, the vulgar were wont 
to make on tires ibr tlie whole night, and leap 
over them, and draw lots, and divine about 
their good and evil fortune. 

But whatever reason the heathens had for 
kindling these fires ; whether, as DurandHS 
thinks, that the lustful dras^ons midit be 
driven away, or, as the canon, that their evil 
fortune might be burnt, it is certain, that the 
custom w^ds invented and practised by them ; 
and because of the superstition attending the 
observation of it, was very justly forbidden 
by the council. And undoubtedly was the 
making of such fires now, attended with any 
such superstition, it would be equally crimi- 
nal to observe them. But * when they are 
only kindled as tokens of joy, to excite in- 
nocent 

* Rogas quos nos Angli houcfires vocamus, & in pu^:lica 1«- 

tltla & gaudiis adhibemus, non obstante ibto canone. ulountag. P. 



Observations^ &c. S75 

nocent mirth and diversion, and promote peace 
and good neighbourhood^ they are lawful and 
innocent, and deserve no censure. And there- 
fore when on midsummer'eve^ St Peters-eve, 
and at some other times, we make ^ bone-fires 
before shops and houses, there would be no 
harm in doing so ; was it not, that some con- 
tinue their diversion to too late hours, and others 
are guilty of excessive drinking. 

* I suppose they were called bone-fires, because tbat generally 
they were made of bones. For as Belithus tells us, " Adversus 
hcec ergo hujusmodi inventum est remedium, ut videlicet rogus ex 
ossibus construeretur, & ita famus hujusmodi animalia fugaret." 
Belith. in Vigil. S. Joan. That to prevent the infection before 
mentioned, they were wont to make on fires of bones, that the smoke 
might drive away the dragons. 



OBSERVATIONS 

On 
CHAPTER XXVII. 

STOW tells us in his Survey of London, " That 
" on the Vigil of St John Baptist, every man's 
" door * being shadowed with g7^een birch, long Jen- 
^' nelj St John's wort, orpin, white Mies, and 

T 2 " such 

* The subsequent extract from the ancient calendar of the Ro^ 
mish church, shews what doings there were at Rome en this eve* 

Junius.*^ 



'%.. 



276 



Observations on 



" such like, garnished upon with garlatids of 
" beautiful flowers^ * had also lamps of glass ^ with 
" oil burning in them all the night : Some hung 
" out branches of iron^ curiously wrought, con- 
" taining hundreds of lamps lighted at once,^^ He 

men- 



23. Vigilia natalis Joannis Bap' 

tistte, 
Aromata dantur vesperls. 
Ignes fiunt. 
Puella cum parvo Tympano, 

quod Coronulam appellat. 
Pucri pro puellis vestiuntur. 
Cantilenae ad. liberales, dirte & 

avaros. 
Aquae in nocte natantur : & 
pensiles ad vaticinium feruntur. 



June, 

23. The Vigil of the nativity of 

John Baptist. 
Spices are given. 
Fires made on. 
A girl with a little drum, that 

proclaims the garland. 
Boys are dressed in girls' clothej. 
Carols to the liberal, impreca- 
tions to the avaricious. 
Waters are su-um in during the 
night : They are fetched in 
vessels that hang for the pur- 
poses of divination. 
Fern is of vulgar estimation be- 
cause of the seed. 
Herbs of different kinds arc 

sought, and many things done. 
Girls' thistle is gathered : a hun- 
dred crosses by the same. 
24. John Baptist's birth-day: dew 

and new leaves in estimation. 
The vulgar solstice. 



Filix vulgo in preclo est propter 

semen. 
HerhcE diversi generis qu^runtur 

et multa fiunt. 
Carduus puellarum legitur, & 

ab eisdera centum cruces. 
24. Nativitas Joannis Biiptistte : 

ros et novce frondes in precio. 
Solstitium vulgare. 

The following extract from Dr INIoresin illustrates not a little 
both these observations in the ancient calendar, and Stow's account. 

Apud nostros quoque proavos, inolevit longa annorura serie per- 
suasio artemesiam in festis Divo Joanni Baptista; sacris, ante domos 
suspensam, item alios frutices et fJantas, atque etiam Candeiasj 
facesque designatis quibusdam diebus celebrioribus aqua lustrali ri- 
gatas, &c. contra tempestates, fulmina, tonitrua & adversus Dia- 
boli potestatem, &c. — quesdam incendere ipso die Joannis Baptistae 
fatciculum lustr alarum herharum contra tonitrua, fulmina, &.c. Ds- 
prav. Rel. Orig. p. 28. 

* Toral, seu Toralium antiquo tempore dicebatur Jiorum et her- 
harum suaveolentium manipulus, seu plures in restim colligati^ qui 
jfuspendebantur ante Thalaraorum & Cubilium fores : et in papain 



Chapter XXVIL 2?? 

aientions also the hone-Jires * in the streets^ e very- 
man bestowing wood or labour towards them. — 
He seems to hint that these were kindled to puri- 
fy the air. 

Dr Moresin seems to be of opinion, that the 
custom of leaping over these Jires^ is a vestige of 
the ordeal fy where passing through fires with 
safety was accounted an indication of innocence. 
There really seems to be probability in this con- 

T 3 jecture, 

ad S. Joannis mutuato more suspendunt ad Oslia ^januas hujus- 
modi Serta et restes &: s^pius ad aras. Moresini Deprav. Rel. 
Orig. 171. 

* Mr Bourne supposes these to have been called bone-fires^ be- 
cause they were generally made of bones. — Stow in the cited pas- 
sage above, tells us of men's finding wood or labour towards them. 
This seems to oppose his opinion. — The learned Dr Hickes also gives 
a very difl^rent etymon. He defines a bone-fire to be a festive or 
triumphant fire. In the Islandic language, says he, kaal signifies a 
burning. In the Anglo Saxon, Boel- fyr, by a change <3f letters of 
the same organ, is made b^en-fyr, whence our bone/ire. See that 
stupendous monument of learned industry, his Thesaurus, 

f Tlammam transiliendi mos videtur etiam priscis Grsecise tem- 
poribus usurpatus fuisse, deque eo versus Sophoclis in Antigone quos- 
dam intelligendos putant : Cum enim rex Creon Polynicis cadaver 
humare prohibuisset, Antigone autem ipsius Soror illud humo con- 
texisset, custodes, ut mortis pcenam a rege constitutam vitatent, 
dicebant se paratos esse ferrum candens nianibus contrecture & jper 
pyram incedere. Hotom. disput. de Feudis. Cap. 44. hie mos Gal- 
lis, Germanis, et post Christianismum remansit etiam Pontificibus : 
ct adulteria uxorum ferro candente probant Germani. ^mil. lib. 4. 
&c. — Et vascones accensis ignibus in urbiuvi vicis \i6.i per medios 
saltare ad festum Joanni sacrum in Estate : et qui funus antiquitus 
prosequuti fuerant, ad proprios lares reversi, aqua aspersi, ignem su- 
pergradiebantur, hoc se piaculo ex funere expiari arbitrati, &c. De- 
prav. liel. Orig. 61. 

So also in another passage : — Majores vero natu ad festum D. 
Johanni sacrum accensis vespere in Platea ignibus, Jiatnmam transi ■ 
Hunt stra7nineam mares et foeminae, pueri, pupaeque, ac fieri vidi in 
Galiis inter Cadurcos ad Oppidulum Puy la Rccque, Ibid. 72. 



278 Observations on 

jecture, for not only the young and vigorous used 
to leap over them, but even those of grave cha- 
racters : There was an interdiction of ecclesiasti- 
cal authority to deter clergymen (as Mr Bourne has 
told us) from this superstitious instance of agility. 

This author tells us of a remarkable custom, 
which he himself was an eye-witness of in Scot- 
land : " * They take," says he, " the new-bap- 
tized infant, and vibrate it three or four times 
gently over a flame, saying and repeating thrice. 
Let the flame consume thee now or never,''' 

This too seems to favour his supposition that 
passi7ig overjires was accoimted expiatory. 

There was a feast at Athens kept by private 
families, called awphidromia^ on the 5th day after 
the birth of the child, when it was the custom for 
the gossips to run round the Jire with the infant in 
their arms^ and then having delivered it to the 
nurse, they were entertained with feasting and 
dancing. 

Mr Borlase, in his account of Cornwall, tells us, 
" The Cornish make boncfires in every village on 
" the eve of St John Baptist's and St Peter's 
" days, which 1 take to be the remains of part of 
" the Druid superstition.*' 

Ge- 



* Atque hodie reccns baptizalo? infantes (ut \*idi fieri ab Ani- 
cula in Scotia olim, quae sui Papatus reliquias sapcret) statim atque 
domum redierint in limine oblatis eduliis btne venire dicunt, statim- 
que importatos, anicula, sive Obstetric fuerit, fasciis involutes accipit 
& per tiammara ter quaterve leniter vibrant, verbis his additis, jam 
te flamma, si unquam, absumat, terque verba repetunt. Ibid. 

Mr Pennant informs us, that in the Highlands, midlives give 
ne^v-horn babes a small spoonful of earth and whisky, as the f!'-^" 
food they taste. 



Chapter XXVII. 279 

Gebelin, before cited, in his Allegories Orienta- 
les^ accounts in the following manner for the cus- 
tom of making on Jires on Midsummer eve^ * " can 
one, says he, overlook here the StJohnJlres^ those 
sacred Jires kindled about midnight, on the very 
moment of the solstice^ by the greatest part both of 
ancient and modern nations ? A religious cere- 
mony, which goes backwards thus to the most 
remote antiquity, and which w^as observed for the 
prosperity of states and people, and to dispel eve- 
ry kind of evil. 

The origin of this Jire^ still retained by so ma- 
ny nations, and which loses itself in antiquity, is 
very simple. It was a feu de joie^ (fire of joy) 

T 4 kindled 

* " Peut-on meconnoitre ici les feux dc la S. Jean, ces feux 
'** sacres allumes a minuit au moment du solstice chez la plupart 
** des nations anciennes & modernes ? Ceremonie religieuse, qui 
** remonte ainsi a la plus haute antiqulte, & qu'o;z observoit pour la 
'* prosperite des etats & des peuples, & pour ecarter tous les maux. 

" L'origine de ce feu que tant de nations conservent encore, & 
" qui sc perd dans I'antiquite, est tres simple. C'etoit un feu de joie 
^* allume au moment ou I'annee commen^oit j car la premiere de 
*' toutes les annees, la plus ancienne xionc on ait quelque connois- 
*' sance, s'ouvroit au mois de Juin. De-la le nom meme de ce 
** mois. Junior, /e plus Jeune, qui se renouvelle ; tandis que celui 
** qui le precede est le mois de Mai, ou Major ^ Pancien j aussi Pun 
*' etoit le mois des jeunes gens, & I'autre celui des vieillards. 

" Ces feux-de-joie etoient accorapagncs en m^me tems de voeux 
" & de sacrifices pour la prosperite des j^uples & des biens de la 
** terre : on dansoit aussi autour de ce feu 5 car y a-t-il quelque 
** fete sans danse ? & les plus agiles sautoient par-dessus. En se 
** retirant, cliacun eraportoit un tison plus ou moins grand, et le 
■" reste etoit jette au vent, afin qu'il emportat tout malheur comme 
*' il emportoit ces cendres. 

" Lorsqu' apres une longue suite d'annees, le solstice n'en fit plus 
" I'ouverture, on continua cependant egalement Pusage des feux 
*' dans le meme tems, par une suite de Phabitude, & des idees 
" superstitieuses qu'on y avoit attachees ; d'ailleurs, il eut ete triste 
*' d'aneantir un jour de joie, dans des tems ou il y en avoit peu j 
** aussi cet usage s'est-il maintenu jusqu' a nous." 

Hist. d'Hercule. p. %0% 



280 



Observations on 



kindled the very moment the year began ; for the 
first of all years^ and the most ancient that we 
know of, began at the month of June. Thence 
the very name of this month, Junior^ the youngest^ 
*which is renewed ; while that of the preceding one 
is May, major, the ancieiit : Thus the one was the 
month of young people, the other that of old men. 
Tliese feiix de joie were accompanied at the 
same time with vows and sacrifices for the pro- 
sperity of the people and the fruits of the earth ; 
they da7iced also round this fire, for what feast is 
there without a dance ? and the most active leaj)- 
ed over it *. Eacli at their departure took away a 
greater oi' less firel)rand, and the remains were 
scattered to the wind, which was to drive away 
every evil as it dispersed the ashes. 

When after a long train of years, the solstice 
ceased to be the beginning of them, the custom of 
making these fires was still continued at the same 
time, through a train of use and of superstitious 
ideas, which were annexed to it. Besides it 
would have been a sad thing to annihilate a day 
of joy in times when there were but few of them : 
Thus has tlie custom been continued and handed 
down to us." 

So far our learned and ingenious foreigner. — 
But I by no means acquiesce with him in tliinking 
that the leaping over these Jires, was only a trial 
of agility. A great deal of learning miglit be pro- 
duced here, further to shew that this was as 
much a r^eligious act as the making them on, 

I have 



iH :^t:litin«^ 



* Leaping over the fires is mentioned r^n 
riles used at the Palilia in Ovid's Fasti : 

" Moxquc \*cx ardent es stipuLe crtpirr.r..i< ,7.\r: ;-f 

** Trajicias ce/eri btrcimi, membra pedc,'''* Lib. 4. 1. 181, 



Chapter XXVII. 281 

I have nothing to observe here concerning Mr 
Bourne's lustful dragons^ their spermatizing in the 
'wells or fountains, as they flew through the air, &c. 
I find in J. Boemus Aubanus' description of the 
ceremonies of this Eve in Germany, that a species 
offreworks was played off, which they, who had 
never seen it before, he says, " would take to be 
a dragon qffre flying *.*' This must have had 
some meaning. The dragon is one of those shapes, 
which " fear has created to itself*/' They who 
gave it Ife, have, it seems, furnished it also with 
the feelings of animated nature ; but our modern 
philosophers are wiser than to attribute any noxi- 
ous qualities in water to di'agon's sperm. 

N, B. Stow tells us, that the rites above described were 
used also on the eve of St Peter and St Paul the apostles 
(the 29th of June.) Dr Moresin informs us, that in Scot- 
land they used on this night to run about on the mountains 
and higher grounds with lighted toixhesy like the Sicilian 
women of old in search of Proserpine. 

I have been informed that something similar to this was 
practised about half a century ago in Northumberland on 
this night ; they carried some kind o^ frehrands about the 
fields of their respective villages : They made encroach- 
ments on these occasions upon the honefires of the neigh- 
bouring towns, of which they took forcibly some of the ashes ; 
this they called « carrying off the foisoery (probably the 
i^four) of the v/ake." 

Moresin thinks this a vestige of the ancient Cei^ealia, 

P. B^, 72. 

CHAP. 

* " Ignis fit, cui Orbiculi quidam lignei perforati imponuntur, 
" qui quum Inflammantur, flexilibus virgis prsefixi, arte et vi in 
" aerem supra Moganum amnem excutiuntur : Draconem igneum 
vqlare putant, qui prius non viderunt." P. 270. 



283 



The Antiquities of 



CHAP. XXVIII. 

Of the Feast of Sheep'Shearing^ an ancitnt 
Custom. 



THE feast of sheep-shearing is generally a 
time of mirth and joy, and more than or- 
dinary hospitality ; indeed it is but little ob- 
served in these northern parts, but in the south- 
ern it is pretty common. For on the day they 
begin to sheer their sheep, they provide a plen- 
tiful dinner for the shearers, and for their friends 
who come to visit them on that occasion ; a ta- 
ble also, if the weather permit, is spread in the 
open village, for the young people and children. 
After what manner soever this custom 
reached us, it is certain it may boast of great 
antiquity. It is mentioned in the Second 
Book of SamueU as a feast of great magnifi- 
cence, both for grandeur of entertainment 
and greatness of company. No less a person 
than Absalom the king's son was the master 
of this feast, and no less persons were the 
guests than the king's sons, the brethren of 
Absalom ; nay, it was a feast that might enter- 
tain the king himself, or surely the king 
would never have been so importuned, never 
would have received the compliment so kindly. 
For it is said. It came to pass after two Jull 

t/ears. 



The Common People. 



283 



years^ that Absalom had sheep-shearers in Baal- 
hazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom 
invited all the kings sons. And, Absalom came 
to the kingj and said, Behold, now thy servant 
hath sheep-shearers, let the king, 1 beseech thee, 
and his servants, go with thy servant. And 
the king said, Nay, my son, let us not all go, 
lest roe be chargeable unto thee. Of this kind 
also was the feast which l^abal made for his 
shearers, when David was driven to straits in 
the wilderness, and sent his servants to ask a 
present of him. He calls the day it was held 
on, a good day ; that is, a day of plentiful eat- 
ing and drinking. And therefore iSiabal an- 
swered the servants of David, Shall I then take 
my bread and my water, and my fiesh that I 
have killed for my shearers, and give it unto 
men, whom I know not whence they be ? And 
further, it is said in the same chapter, that 
so grand and magnificent was this feast, that he 
had a feast in his house, like the feast of a 
king. We find also in the book of Genesis, 
that Laban went to sheer his sheep, in which 
time Jacob made his escape, which Laban 
heard not of till the third day. Of such great 
antiquity then is this custom, and though its 
antiquity is not of such force as to paUiate 
luxury and profuseness in these entertainments, 
yet no doubt it will vindicate the harmlessness 
of a moderate feast upon this occasion. 

OB- 



S84 Observations on 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE author of the Convivial Antiquities tells 
us, that the pastoral life was anciently ac- 
counted an honourable one, particularly amongst 
the Jews and the Romans *. Mr Bourne has 
given us instances from the Old Testaments of 
the festive entertainments of the former on this 
occasion ; Pliny and Vairo may be consulted for 
the manner of celebrating this feast among the 
latter. — The washing and shearing of sheep was 
attended among them with great mirth and fes- 
tivity : Indeed the value of the covering of this 
very useful animal must have always made the 
slieming time, in all pastoral nations, a kind of 
hawest home. 

There 

* Apud Latinos oves to/iJerc, ut ct scmentcm faccre omumo non 
fuit licitum, priusquam Catuiatio, hoc est, ex cane sacrum fieict : ut 
Gyraldus testatur do Diis Gentium. Ex his ergo omnibus con- 
stat illam oviurn tonsuram (quam luna decracente a veteribus fieri 
fuisse solitam M. Varro testatur : de tempore autem oves lavandi 
atque /o/7//(fWz vide Plin. lib. 18. c. 17.) magna t.\xmfestivitate, 
/cetitia atque cofivivus fuisse celebratam j id quod mirum non est. 
— Nam in animalibus primum non sine causa putant oves assumptas, 
& propter utilitatem &. propter p/aciditatern ; maxime enim hat 
natura quietae & aptissimse ad vitam hominum. Ad cibum enim /or, 
& caseum adhibitum j ad corpus vestitum ^Ipelles attulerunt. Ita- 
que cum in illis tot preesertim numero tondendis plurimiim pa^ti>- 
ribus atque famulis esset laboris exantlandum, justa profeclo d* 
causa Patresfamilias atque domini illos conviviali hujusmodi Lttitla 
^ecreare rursus atque exhilarare voluerunt. 

Antiquit. Convlv. p. (5-. 



Chapter XXVltl. 285 

There is a beautiful description of this festivity 
iiL Dyer's Fleece^ at the end of the first book: 

" At shearing t'wie^ along the lively vales, 
** Rural festivities are often heard : 
" Beneath «ach blooming arbour all is joy 
** And lusty merriment : while on the grass 
" The mingled youth in gaudy circles sport, 
*' We think the golden age again return'd, 
** And all the fabled dryades in dance. 
" Leering they bound along, with laughing air, 
" To the shrill pipe and deep remurm'ring cords 
" Of th' ancient harp, or tabor's hollow sound ; 
" While th' old apart, upon a bank reclin'd, 
** Attend the tuneful carol, softly mixt 
*' With every murmur of the sliding wave, 
" And ev'ry warble of the feather'd choir j 
** Music of paradise ! which still is heard, 
" When the heart listens •, still the views appear 
'* Of the first happy garden, when Content 
" To Nature's flow'ry scene directs the sight. 

• ' " With light fantastic toe, the nymphs 
Thither assembled, thither ev'ry swain j 
" And o'er the dimpled stream a thousand flow'rs, 
** Pale lilies, roses, violets, and pinks, 
** Mixt with the greens of burnet, mint, and thynje, 
** And trefoil sprinkled with their sportive arms. 
** Such custom holds along th' irrlguous vales, 
" From Wreakin's Brow to rocky Dolvoryn, 
** Sabrina's early haunt. 

" The jolly chear 

'* Spread on a mossy bank, untouch'd abides 

*' Till cease the rites : i\.nd now the mossy bank 

'* Is gaily circled, and the jolly chear 

** Dispers'd in copious measure : Early fruits, 

^ And those of frugal store, in husk or rind 5 

" Steep'd grain, and curdled milk, with dulcet cream 

** Soft temper'd, in full merriment they quaff, 

** And cast about their gibes j and some apace 

'* Whistle to roundelavi : Their little ones 

^' Look 



II 



286 Observations on 

" Look on delighted 5 while the mountain woodsj 
* And winding vallies, with the various notes 
" Of pipe, sheep, kine, and birds, and liquid brooks , 
" Unite their echoes : Near at hand 
" The wide majestic wave of Severn slowly rolls 
" Along the deep divided glebe : The flood 
" And trading bark, with low contracted sail, 
" Linger among the reeds and copsy banks 
" To listen and to view the joyous scene." 

Thus also of the washing and shearing sheep in 
Thomson^s Summer : 



" In one diffusive band 



" They drive the troubled flocks, by many a dog 

** Compell'd, to where the mazy -running brook 

*' Forms a deep pool j this bank abrupt and high, 

** And that fair spreading in a pebbled shore. 

" Urg'd to the giddy brink, much is the toil, 

" The clamour much of men, and boys and dogs, 

** Ere the soft fearful people to the flood 

** Commit their woolly sides : and oft the swain 

" On some impatient seizing, hurls them in : 

" Embolden'd then, nor hesitating more, 

" Fast, fast they plunge amid the flashing wave, 

" And panting, labour to the farther shore. 

** Repeated this, till deep the well-wash'd fleece 

" Has drunk the flood, and from his lively haunt, 

" The trout is banlsh'd by the sordid stream 5 

" Heavy and dripping, to the breezy brow 

*' Slow move the harmless race j where as they sprea^l 

" Their swelling treasures to the sunny ray, 

" Inly disturb'd, and wond'ring what this wild 

** Outrageous tumult means, their loud complaints 

*' The country tell j and tossM from rtx:k to rock 

" Incessant bleatings nm around the hills, 

" At last, of snowy white, the gather'd flocks 

" Are in the wattled pen innumerous press'd 

" Head above head; and rang'd in lusty rows 

** The shepherds sit and whet the sounding shears. 

** The housewife waits to roll her fleecy stores, 

* With aU her gay-diess'd maids attending round 



Chapter XXVIII. 287 

** One, chief, in gracious dignity inthron'd, 

** Shines o'er the rest, the past'ral queen, and rays 

** Her smiles, sweet-beaming on her shepherd king j 

** While the glad circle round them yield their souls 

** To festive mirth, and wit that knows no gall, 

** Meantime, their joyous task goes on apace : 

** Some mingling stir the melted tar, and some 

**Deep on the new-shorn vagrant's heaving side 

" To stamp his master's cypher ready stand 3 

*' Other's th' unwilling wether drag along : 

" And glorying in his might, the sturdy boy 

** Holds by the twisted horns th' indignant ram. 

" Behold where bound, and of its robe bereft, 

* By needy man, that alLdepending lord, 

** How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies \ 

*' What softness in its melancholy face, 

** What dumb complaining innocence appears ! 

" Fear not, ye gentle tribes I 'tis not the knife 

*' Of horrid slaughter that is o'er you wav'd ', 

" No, 'tis the tender swain's well-guided shears, 

** \\ ho having now, to pay his annual care, 

*' Borrow'd your fleece, to you a cumbrous load, 

*' Will send you bounding to your hills again." 

Line 36^, 

Mr Bourne's definition of a " Good Day" in 
this chapter is a pleasant one : " He calls, says 
" he, the day it was held on, a good day; that is, 
" a day of plentiful eating and drinking.^* 

By parity of reasoning, the vulgar ceremony 
of wishing a good day to you^ is synonymous with 
wishing you a good dinner * ! 

CHAR 

* This calls to my remembrance the following curious passage 
in Dr Moresin : Ebrietati, says he, et gulae indulget papa diebus 
suis festis : nam amplius largiusque rei divinae caussa invitare se 
credebatur fas, unde et f^i^-vuv inflexum Arist. putat. quod ebrii 
Jierent^ fjurot to B-vav^ id est, post sacrificium : quin dapes et Con- 
vivia dictitabant B-oivccg, a B-iU et 01V05, veluti deorum gratia ampli- 
lis indulgendum foret. Csel, lib. 7. cap. 2. ant. lect. p. 52, 



488 The Antiquities of 



I,. CHAP. XXIX, 



0/ Michaelmass ; Guardian Angels the di^ 
course of Country People at this time : 
That it seems rather true, that we are pro- 
iected hy a number of Angels^ than by one 
particular Genius. 

THE feast of this season is celebrated in 
commemoration of St Michael^ and all 
the orders of angels. It is called, The Dedi^ 
cation of St Michael^ because of a church be- 
ing dedicated to him on this day in mount 
Garganus. 

At this season of the year, it is a general 
custom to elect the governors of towns and ci- 
ties, to promote peace among men, and guard 
them against harm from their malicious fellow 
creatures. Whether this particular time of the 
year has been chosen for electing them, be- 
cause then is the feast of angels, the guardians 
and protectors of men, and of their communi- 
ties and * provinces, is not so certain. It is cer- 
tainer, that whenever it comes, it brings into 
the minds of the people, that old opinion of /w- 
telar angels^ that every man has his guardiaii 
angel ; that is, one particular angel who attends 
him from his coming in, till his going out of life, 

who 

* Daniel, ch. x. 



The Common Feople. 289 

^ho guides him through the troubles of the 
world, and strives as much as he can, to brmg 
him to heaven. 

Now that good angels attend good men is 
without dispute. They guide them in the 
mazes of the wilderness of hfe, and bring them 
to their desired homes ; they surround them 
in the seas of afHictions, and lead them to the 
shores of peace ; and as when the Israelites 
passed through the Red-Sea, the cloud became 
light to them, but darkness to their enemies^ 
so in the troublesome seas of this life, the an- 
gels are both the guides of good men, and 
their protectors from evil, from the devil aad 
his angels. And therefore the Psalmist says, 
The angel of the LORD tarrieth round about 
them that Jear him, and deliver eth them', and 
that he will give his angels charge over good 
men. They are also supposed to be that hedge 
which God placed about Job, which the devil 
so much complains of; and sure we are, that 
when the eyes of Elishas servant were opened, 
he saw the mountain full of chariots and 
horses of fire round about Elisha. That there- 
fore good men are guarded and protected by 
angels, the Scripture shews very clearly. But 
that every man has his particular genius^ 
seems to be founded more upon tradition, thari 
any certainty from Scripture. Thus the Egyp- 
tians believed that every man had three an- 

U gels 



290 The Antiquities of 

f els attending him ; the Fythagoreans, tliat 
every man had two ; the liomans^ that there 
was a good and an evil genius. And hence it 
is that the Roman poet says, Qiusque siios pa- 
iitur manes, every man hath his evil genius. 
And if we may believe the authority of Pin- 
tarch, the evil genius of Brutus appeared to 
him the night before the battle of Philippic 
and told him he was his evil genius, and that 
he would meet him there. 

But there are greater authorities than these 
in vindication of this opinion : Casalion ob- 
serves, it may be proved from vScripture, and 
not only from the tradition of the * heathens. 
And of this opinion was Justin Martyr, Theo- 
doret, St Basil, St Jerome, and St Austin, 

There are indeed two places in the New 
Testament, which have a view to this opinion. 
The first is in the 18th of St Mat there, 
the 10th verse, Take heed thai ye despise not 
one of these little ones : For I say unto you, 
that their angels do always behold the face of 
Tuy Father which is in heaven. Now, because 
this place takes notice of the angels of these 
little ones, some have therefore concluded that 

every 

* Unicuique Deus custodem apposuit j et asserlmus Indubitanter 
ftos ex scripturas illam fidem, non gentium nugibus. Cassa/. 217. 
P. de VeL Christ. Rit. 



The Common People. 291 

every man has his good angel ; at least that 
good men have. But now this conclusion does 
not certainly follow from these words : For 
when it is said their angels^ it does indeed cer- 
tainly infer, that the angels do protect good 
men, but not that every man has his particular 
angel. And hence therefore, as one observes, 
St Chrysostom makes use of these words, En-- 
teuthen delon, &c. it is manifest that the saints 
at least, if not all men, have their angels : But 
he does not hence conclude, that every man 
has one. The other place is in the Acts of the 
apostles, where it is said, that when Peter was 
delivered out of prison, they would not believe 
the maid it was he, but said. It was his angeL 
It must be owned indeed from this, that it seems 
the opinion of those in the house, that every 
man had his guardian angel ; but this is no 
proof of the thmg's being so : It only proves, 
that it was their opinion, but not that this opi-^ 
nion is true. The Jews had such a tradition 
among them, and what was here spoEen, was 
perhaps only according to that tradition. Be- 
sides we read on the contrary, that sometimes 
one and the same angel has been sent to dif- 
ferent persons ; thus Gabriel was sent to Da- 
?^^e/, Zacharias, and the blessed virgin : Some- 
times the Scripture tells us af many angels pro-i 
tecting one man ; for so was Elisha protected ; 
and as we wrestle not only against Jlesh and 

U 2 bloodi 



^92 The Antiquities^ 6cc, 

bloody but against all the powers of darknes.f, 
so we have many angels to assist and defend 
us. I shall not dare to determine positively 
against this opinion, which has travelled down 
through so many ages, which has been held 
by so many wise and learned men, and which 
has such Scriptures brought to its defence ; 
this I shall onl}^ say, that of the two opinions, 
the latter seems to be the more probable ; that 
it seems more consonant to Scripture, that we 
are attended by a number of angels, than by u 
particular tutelar angel. But this I mention, 
not as necessary to be believed. For I am 
persuaded there is no fault in believing either 
the one or the other, as it appears more proba- 
ble : For whether soever we believe, we believe 
in the protection of angels, and that seems to 
be all wliich the Scripture requires. 



OBSERVATIONS 

OK 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

SYmmachus, against the Christians, says, " The 
divine Being has distributed various guardiafis 
to cities. — As souls are communicated to infants 



Observations, &c. 293 

at their birth, so particular genii are assigned to 
particular societies of men. 

Moresin tells us, that papal Rome, in imitation 
of this tenet of Gentilism, has fabricated such 
kinds of genii for guardians and defenders of cities 
and people. — Thus she has assigned St Andrew to 
Scotland, St George to England, St Dennis to 
France, &c. — Egidius to Edinburgh, Nicholas to 
Aberdeen, &c. &c *. 

It were superfluous to enumerate the tutelar 
gods of heathenism. — Few are ignorant that A^ 
polio and Minerva presided over Athens, Bacchus 
and Hercules over Boeotian Thebes, Jimo over Car- 
thage, Venus over Cyprus and Paphos, Apollo 
over Rhodes, Mars was the tutelar god of 
Rome t, as Neptune of Taenarus : Diana presided 
over Crete^ Sec. kc, 

St Peter succeeded to Mars at the revolution 
of the religious creed of Rome : He now presides 
over the castle of St Angelo, as Mars did over the 
ancient Capitol. 

It is observable in this place, how closely Po- 
pery has in this respect copied the heathen my- 
thology. — She has the Supreme Being for Jupiter, 

U 3 and 

* Custodes varios (ait Symmachus in relatione ad Valentinia- 
num, &.C. pro veteri Deorum cultu adrersus Christianos) Ur^btbus 
&. cultus Mens divina distribuit : ut anwice nqscentibus, ita Populis 
fatales Genii dividuntur. Sic Papa populis et Urbibus consimiles 
fabricat callus ct Genios Custodes & Defensores, ut Scotia An- 
dream, Angliae Georgium, Gallia^ Dionysium, &c. — Edinburgo 
Egidium, Abcrdoniee ISficolaum, &.c. Moresini Deprav. Rel. 
Orig. P. 48. 

\ In tlie observations on days In the ancient calendar of thg 
Church of Rome, I find on this day the following :^ 

" Arx tonat in gratiam tiitelaris numiuisy 



294 Observations on 

and has substituted angels for ge?iii, — The souls 
of saints for heroes, retaining all kinds of dccmons. 
Against these pests, she has carefully provided 
her antidotes. — She exorcises them out of waters, 
she rids the air of them by ringing her hallowed 
bells, &c. 

Thus the Pope, like Pluto of old, may be said 
to preside over the infernal regions. 

The Romanists, in imitation of the heathens, 
have assigned tutelar gods to each member of the 
body, to professions *, trades t, &c. 

It is perhaps owing to this ancient notion of 
good and evil genii attending each person, that 
Hiany of the vulgar pay so great an attention to 

par- 

* Apollini et ^sculapio ejus fillo datur morbo medicinam fa- 
pcre, apud nos Cosnuv et Damiano : at Pestis in partem ccdit Ro- 
cho ; oculorum lippitudo Clara:. Antonius suibus medendis suffi- 
cit : (St Anthony's Pig), &c. Mori o font ico olim Hercules, nunc 
Joannes &. Valcntinus praesunt. — In arte obstetricandi Lucinam 
longe superat nostra Margareta, et quia htrc moritur Virgo^ ne non 
satis attenta ad curam sit, quam neque didicit, neque experientia cog- 
novit illi in officio jungitur fungendo expertus Marpurgus. Ali- 
qui addunt loco Junonisj Reginam nqstri cceli divam Mariam, &.c. 
Moresin Deprav. Rel. p. 16. 

Statiiinus erat Deus cujusque />rivatus,qmsem^T suttm hominem 
est dictus comitari : sic papa cuique adglutinat suum angelum et 
quisque sibi patronum ex defunctis unum eligit, cujus sit cliens et 
cui votaferat. Ibid. P. ]b4. 

f Sartoriius nemo Deorum veterum prae est, quern legere conti- 
git nisi sit Merturius Fur^ cum ipsi sint furacissimi. Bulling, 
cap. 34. Orig. ex papce dccreto concedit illis, cum sint plerunquc 
belli homunculi, dignum suis moribus Deum Gutmannum ncscio 
quern. Sed barbaruni nomen cogit fateri ci\41iores esse Scoto:*, qui 
Annam, matrem Virginis Mariae coluerunt, quae ac dicunt tuni- 
cam Christi texuit, et ideo merito illis Dea est. Ibid. 155. 

Fabrorum'DeMS Vuicanus hjSX. ferrariorum^ nunc in papatu corn- 
mutant Vulconum cum Euiogio — Scoti hisce fabris dederunt Aloi- 
sium^ quem colcrent, ut et reliquis qui vialUo utuntur. Ibid. P. 
5S. 



Chapter XXIX, 



295 



particular dreams^ thinking them, it should seem, 
the means these invisible attendants use to inform 
their wards * of any imminent danger. 

Michaelmas^ says Bailey, is a festival appointed 
by the church, to be observed in honour of St 
Michael the archangel, who is supposed to be 
the chief of the host of heaven, as Liwifer is of 
the infernal, and as he was supposed to be the 
protector of the Jewish churchy so he is now es- 
teemed the guardian and defender of the Christian 
church, 

A red velvet bucMer is said to be still reserved 
in a castle of Normandy, which the archangel 
Michael made use of when he combated the dra- 
gon ! See Bishop Hall's Triumphs of Rome, p. 62. 

This writer ridicules also the superstition of sai- 
lors among the Romanists, who, in passing by St 
Michael's Grecian promontory Malea, used to 
ply him with their best devotions, that he would 
hold still his wings^ from resting too hard upon their 
sails. Triumph of Piety, p. 50, 

U 4 CHAP. 



* Theodoretus in Expositione Epist. Pauli ad Coloss. 2, dicit, 
«3ui legem defendebant Pseudo-apostoli eos etiam ad Angelas colen- 
dos inducehant^ dicentes, legem per ipsos datam fuisse, mansit au- 
tem Koc vitium diu in Phrygia &. Pisidia, quocirca Synodus quoque 
convenit Laodiceae, quae est Phrygiae metropolis, et lege prohibuit, 
ne precarentur Angelas : Canon Concil Laodicen. est 34. ac ita 
habet. Non oportet Christianos derelicta Ecclesia abire ad Ange- 
las et idololatriae abominandae congregationes facere, &c. Scd 
nunc ex Papismo Angeli duo cuique assidenty bonum his conceptis 
precantur verbis. 

Angele qui mens est Custos pletate supema, 
Me tibi commissum serva, defende, guberna. 

Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. JQ, 



296 The Antiquities of 



CHAP. XXX. 

Of the Country Wake : How observed for^ 
merit/ : A custom of the Heathens^ and re- 
gulated by Gregory the Great, 

IN the southern parts of this nation, the most 
of country villages are wont to observe 
some Sunday in a more particular manner, 
than the other common Sundays of the year, 
V7.Z. the Sunday after the day of dedication, 
i, e. the Sunday after the day of the saint, to 
whom their church was dedicated. Then the 
inhabitants deck themselves in their gaudiest 
clothes, and have open doors and splendid en- 
tertainments, for the reception and treating of 
their relations and friends, who visit them on 
that occasion, from each neighbourmg town. 
The iTiorning is spent for the most part at 
church, though not as that morning was wont 
to be spent, not with the commemoration of 
the saint or inartyr, not the grateful remem- 
brance of the builder and endower. The re- 
maining part of the day is spent in eating and 
drinking ; and ao is also a day or two after- 
wards, together with all sorts of rural pastimes 
and exercises, such as dancing on the green^ 
wrestling, cudgelling, &c. 

Agree- 



The Common People. 297 

Agreeable to this we are told, that former- 
ly ^ on the Sunday after the Enccenia, or feast 
oj the dedication of the church, it was usual 
for a great number of the inhabitants of the 
village, both grown and young, to meet to- 
gether about break of day, and cry, Holy- 
wakes^ holy-wakes^ and after mattens to go to 
feasting and sporting, which they continued 
for two or three days. 

In the northern parts, the Sunday's feast- 
ing is almost lost, and they observe only one 
other day for the whole, which among them is 
called the hopping ; I suppose from the dan- 
cing and other exercises then used. The an- 
cient name, and which is still common in the i^t 
southern parts, is the wake ; which according 
to Sir iJ. Spelman, are -f- Baccharial feasts, 
observed about fruit time, and which were in 
villages by turns, among the northern and wes- 
tern English He calls them Bacchanals, be- 
cause, as he observes, the Saxon word wak^ 
signifies drunkenness. This custom our fore- 
fathers 

* Die Dominica post encgeniam seu festum deciicationis cujusvis 
yill» convenire solet in Aurora magna hominum juvenumque 
jnultitudo, & canora voce Holy-wakes, holy-wakes, exclamando 
designate, &c. Spelm, Gloss, in Verb. Wak, 

f Sunt celebritates Bacchanales sub fructuum temporibus, ab 
pcciduiis & Borealibus Anglis pagatim habitae. Bacchanales dixi 
ex nomine : Nam Wak. Sax. est temulcntia. Spelm. ibid. 



298 The Antiquities^ &e. 

fathers did in all probability borrow from their 
fellow heathens, * whose paganalia or country 
feasts^ M^ere of the same stamp, with this of th« 
wake. 

At the conversion of the Saxons by Austin 
the monky it was continued among the converts, 
with some regulations, by an order of Pope 
Gregory the Great, to Mellitus the abbot, 
who accompanied Austin in his voyage. His 
words are these, -f* On the day of dedication , 
or the birth-day of the holy martyrs, whose 
relicks are there placed, let the people makt 
to themselves booths of the boughs of trees, 
round about those very churches, which had 
been the temples of idols, and in a religious 
w ay to observe a feast ; that beasts may no 
longer be slaughtered by way of sacrifice to 
the devil, but for their own eating, and the 
glory of God ; and that when they are full 
and satisfied, they may return him thanks, who 
is the giver of all good things. 

This then is the beginning of our country 
wakes, but they continued not in their original 
purity : for the feasting and sporting got the 
ascendant of religion, and so this feast of de- 
dication, 

* Haec eadem sunt quae apud ethnicos paganalia diccbantur, is-'c. 
Spelm. ibid. 

f Ut die dedicationis, vel natalitiis sanctorum martyrrum, quo- 
rum illic reliquiae ponuntu r, tabemacula sibi circa easdem ecclesias, 
quae ex fanis commutatae sunt, dc ramis arbor um faciant, <h'c. Bed. 
Zib. Cap. 30. 



Observations^ &c. 



299 



dication, degenerated into drunkenness and 
luxury. At present there is nothing left but 
the very refuse and dregs of it ; rehgion hav- 
ing not the least share in it, which till these 
latter ages always had some. Rioting and 
feasting are now all that remain, a scandal to 
the feast in particular, and to Christianity in 
general. 



OBSERVATIONS 

O N 

CHAPTER XXX. 

IN the council held at Magfield in the time of 
Edward the Third, in the Hst of the principal 
holidays to be observed in England, are the an- 
niversaries of the consecration of churches and of 
the saints to whose memory they are dedicated *. 

The learned Mr Borlase, in his account of 
Cornwall, speaking on this subject, tells us, the 
parish feasts instituted in commemoration of the 
dedication of the parochial churches were highly 
esteemed among the primitive Christians, and ori- 
ginally kept on the Saint's day to whose memory 
the church was dedicated : The generosity of the 
founder and endower thereof was at the same 
time celebrated, and a service composed suitable 
to the occasion. (This is still done in the col- 
leges at Oxford to the memory of the respective 
founders.) On the eve of this day prayers were 

said, 

* Vide CoUier's Ecclesiastical History, Vol. I. p. 531. 



300 Observations on 

said, and hymns were sung all night in the 
church ; and from these watchings the festivals 
were stiled wakes * ; which name still continues 
in many parts of England, though the vigils have 
been long abolished. — It being found very incon- 
venient, especially in harvest time, to observe the 
parish feast on the Saint's day, they were by the 
bishop's special authority transferred to the fol- 
lowing Sunday, and at length, in the 28th year of 
Henry VIII. it was enjoined, that they should be 
always every w^here celebrated on the first Sun- 
day in October, and no other day ; ^\niich injunc- 
tion was never universally complied with, custom 
in this case prevailing against the law of the land. 
— These feasts (he continues) have been much ex- 
claimed against by those who do not duly distin- 
guish between the institution itself and the dege* 
perate abuse of it. 

Whea 



* Speght in his glossary to Chaucer, gives us a curious descrip- 
tion of wakes. — It was the manner in times past, (says he) upon 
festival evens called -y/^ //;"^, for parishioners to meet in their church 
houses, or church-yards, and there to have a drinking Jit for the 
time. — Here they used to end many quarrel* between neighbour 
and ncic;hbour : Hither came the wives in comely manner^ and 
they which were of the better sort, had their mantles carriec? with 
them, as well for show as to keep them from cold at the table. 
These mantles also many did use in the church at morrow masses 
and other times. 

In the 28 canon given under King Edgar (preserved in Whe- 
loc's edition of Bede.) I find " decent behaviour enjoined at these 
*' church tuakes : The people are commanded to pray devoutly at 
*' them, and not betake themselves to drinking or debauchery." 

28. Ant> pe lacjiaj) j5 man scr Cyjiic paeccan rpi]>e jttjjieoh yj- 1 
jeojxne jebitJ-oe. "] .-cnise 'ojienc. ne ajnij unnir J)-.pne lojieose. — I'his 
seems to oppo'^e the opinion of Spelman, that wakes are derived, as Bourn; 
cites him, from the Saxoa word wai, which signifies drunkenness. 






Chapter XXX. 301 

When the order was made in 1627 and 1631^ 
at Exeter and in Somersetshire, for their suppres- 
sion, both the ministers and the people desired 
their continuance, not only for preserving the me- 
morial of the dedication of their server al churches^ but 
for civilizing their parishioners^ composing differences 
by the mediation and meeting of friends, iiicreas- 
ing of love and unity by these feasts of charity, and 
for the relief diXidi comfort of the poor, 

Mr Strutt gives us a pertinent quotation on this 
subject from Dugdale's Warwickshire, from an 
old MS. legend of St John the Baptist : " And ye 
shall understond and know how the evyns were 
furst found in old time. In the beginning of holi 
churche, it was so that the pepul cam to the 
chirche with candellys brennying, and wold wake 
and coome with light toward to the chirche in their 
devocions ; and after they fell to lecherie and 
songs, • daunces, harping, piping, and also to 
glotony and sinne, and so turned the holinesse to 
cursydness : Wherefore holy faders ordeined the 
pepul to leve that wakings and to fast the evi/7t* 
But hit is callyd vigilia^ that is waking in Englishes 
and it is called evyn^ for at evyn they were wont 
to come to chirche,^ 

This quotation also seems to overthrow the ety* 
mology oiwake^ given from Spelman by our author* 

This 



* Bisliop Hall, in his Triumphs of Rome, alludes thus to these 
convivial entertainments. " What should I speak of our tnerrij 
wakes, and May games, and Christmas triumphs, which you have 
once seen here, and may see still in those under the Roman dition ; 
in all which put together, you may well say, no Greek can be mer- 
rier than they." Triumph of Pleasure. P. 23. 



302 Observations, Sec. 

This ingenious antiquary deduces the origin of 
our Fairs from these ancient wakes, where great 
numbers attending, by degrees less devotion and 
reverence were observed ; till at length from haw- 
kers and pedlars coming thither to sell their petty 
wares, the merchants came and set up stalls and 
booths in the church-yards : And not only those, 
says Spelman, who lived in the parish to which 
the church belonged, resorted thither, but others 
from all the neighbouring towns and villages ; and 
the greater the reputation of the saint, the greater 
were the numbers that flocked together on this 
occasion. — Keeping these Fairs on Sundays was 
justly found fault with by the clergy : The Abbot 
of Ely, in John's reign, preached much against 
such profanation of the Sabbath, but this irreli- 
gious custom was not entirely abolished till the 
reign of King Henry the Sixth. See Strutt's Eng- 
lish ^ra. Vol. II. p. 98. See Article Fairs in the 
Appendix. 

These meetings are still kept up, under the 
name of hoppings *, in many of our northern vil- 
lages. — We shall hope the rejoicings on them are 
still in general restrained within the bounds of in- 
nocent festivity, though it is to be feared they 
sometimes prove fatal to the morals of our swains, 
and to the innocence of our rustic maids. 

CHAP. 

* Hopping is derived from the Anglo Saxon poppan, to leap or 
dance, Avhich Skinner deduces from the Dutch huppe, Coxendixy 
(whence also our hip) hcec enim saltitatio, qua corpus in altum tol- 
litur, ope robustissimorum illorum musculorum, qui ossibus femori* 
et coxendicis movendis dicati sunt, proecipue peragitur. Skinner in 
verb. Hop. Dancings are here vulgarly called /;o/?j-.— The word 
in it6 original meaning is preserved in ^i^ss-hopper. 



The Antiquities^ Sec, SOS 



CHAP. XXXI. 

Of the Harvest Supper : A Custom of the 
Heathens, taken from the Jewish Feast of 
Tabernacles. 

WHEN the fruits of the earth are gather- 
ed in, and laid in their proper recep- 
tacles, it is common, in the most of country- 
places, to provide a plentiful supper for the 
harvest-men, and the servants of the family ; 
which is called a harvest-supper, and in some 
places a mell-supper, a churn-supper, &c. At 
this the servant and his master are alike, and 
every thing is done with an equal freedom. 
They sit at the same table, converse freely to- 
gether, and spend the remaining part of the 
night in dancing, singing, &c. without any dif- 
ference or distinction. 

There * was a custom among the heathens, 
much like this, at the gathering in of their 
harvest, when servants were indulged with li- 
berty and being on the equality with their mas- 
ters for a certam time. 

Now 



* Antiquitus consuetudo fuit apud Gentiles, quod hoc mense 
crvi pastores & ancillae quadam libertate fruerentur : Et cum 
Dominis suis dominarentur, & cum eils facerent festa, & convivia, 
post collectas messes. Durand, Rat* Lib, 6. Ca^* 86. 



304 The Antiquities of 

Now, the original of both these customs is 
Jewish : And therefore Hospinian tells us, * 
That the heathens copied after this custom of 
the Jews^ and at the end of their harvest, of- 
fered up their first fruits to the gods. For the 
Jez€s rejoiced and feasted at the getting in of 
the harvest. 

THEOPHYLACT in talking of this feast, 
is undoubtedly mistaken, when he says,- -j* 
That the f east of tabernacles was celebrated, 
that thanks might be returned for the getting 
in of the fruits of the earth. For God himself 
tells his own people, it was instituted, .| that 
their generations might knou\ that he had 
made the children of Israel to dwell in booths. 
But however, it is certainly true, that it was 
a time of returning thanks to God, for the 
success of the harvest, a time of festivity, 
and joy, and gladness. Thus the scripture, § 
Thou shall observe the feast of tabernacles 
seven days, after thou hast gathered in thy 
corn and thy zdne. And thou shall rejoice in 
thy feast ^ thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, 

and 

* Et pro coll:ctis frugibus Deo gratioe agebantur. Quern mo- 
rem ethnic! postea ab lis mutuati sunt. Hospin. de Orig. Fest. 
Jud. Stukius Afitiq. ConvhaL p. 63. 

f Scenopegia, quod celebrant in gratiamm actionem propter 
convectas fruges in mense Septembri. Tunc enim gratias agebant 
Deo, convectis omnibus fructibus, (6'r. Theophylact. in 1 Cap. 
Joan, 

X Levlt. xxiii. ■ ■§ Deut. xvi. 



The Common People, 



305 



and thy man-servant^ and thy maid-servant ; 
and the Levite^ the stranger, and the father- 
less and the widow, that are within thy gates. 
Now as the heathens have imitated the Jews 
in this custom, so it is not improbable that we 
have had it from the heathens : there beinp- a 
very great Ukeness between the custom now, 
and that of the heathens formerly. For Ma" 
crobius tells us, that * the masters of families, 
when they had got their harvest, were wont to 
feast with their servants, who had laboured 
with them in tilUng the ground : Which is ex- 
actly answerable to the custom now amongst 
us. But whatever truth there is in this, it is 
certain this custom was practised by the SacV- 
ons, and is at least as ancient among us, as 
their days, for among their holidays, we find a 
•j- week set apart at harvest; of which our 
harvest-home, and mell-supper, in the Norths 
are the only remains. 

* Patres familiarura, & frugibus & fructibus jam coaetis, pats- 
sim cum servis vescerentur, cum quibus patientiam laboris in celcn* 
do rare toleraverant. Macrob. SaturnaL Die prim. Cap, 10. 

f Elstoh, Append. P. 30. 

Here end the Antiquitates Vidgares. 



OB 



SOG 



Observations §n 






C) B S E R y A T I O N S 

©If 

C H A P T E R XXXI. 



VACINA, (aliter Vaciina, a vacando, the tu- 
telar Deity, as it were, of rest and ease) 
among t\\^ ancients, was the name of the god- 
dess to whom the rustics sacrificed at the concki- 
sion of haryest. 

Moresin * tells us that Popei^j, in imitation of 
this, brings home her chaplets of corn, which 
she suspends on poles ; that offerings are made 
on the altars of her tutelar gods, while thanks are 
returned for the collected stores, and prayers are 
put up for future rest and ease. Images too of 
straw, or stubble, he tells us, are wont to be car- 
ried about on this occasion ; and in England he 
himself saw the country people bringing home in 
a cart (I suppose from the field) a figure made of 
corn^ round which men and women promiscu- 
ously singing, followed a piper or a drum. — A 
vestige of this custom is still preserved in some 
places in the North ; Not half a century ago they 
used every where to dress up something, similar 

io 



* Vacina Dca, cui sacrlficabant Agrlcolie messe peracta : Pa- 
pntus fert domum splccas Coronas, quas a tignis suspendit, nunc al- 
tarlbus suorum Tutclanum offerunt, gratias agunt pro collectis fru- 
gibiis &. otlum precantur. Alii stramineas i^tatuas circumferunt. 
Anglos vidi spiceam ferre domuni in Rheda Imaginem circum can- 
tantibus promiscue viris et fceminis, pra^cedent* tibicinc aut Tym* 
pane. Deprav. Rcl. Orig. in vcrbo Vaciua. 



Chapter XXXI. 507 

to the figure above described, at the end of har- 
vest, which was called a l:er7i baby. I had this in- 
formation from an old woman at a village in Nor- 
thumberland. — The reader may perhaps smile, 
but I am not ashamed of my evidence. In a case 
of this nature, old *women are respectable authori- 
ties. — This northern word is plainly a corruption 
of corn baby or image^ as is the kern or chum sup- 
per, of com supper*. 

This feast is undoubtedly of the most remote 
antiquity t. That men in all nations, where agri- 
culture flourished, should have expressed their 
joy on this occasion by some outward ceremony, 
has its foundation in the nature of things : Sow- 
ing is hope ; reaping, fnulion of the expected 
good. To the husbandman, whom the fear of 
wet, blights, &c. had harassed with great anx- 
iety, the completion of his wishes could not 
fail of imparting an enviable gust of delight. — 
Festivity is but the reflex of inward joy, and 

X 2 it 



* This, as Mr Bourne tells us, is called also a me//-s upper ^ 
plainly, I think, from the French mes/er, to mingle or mix toge- 
ther, the master and servants sitting promiscuously at the same table : 
'* all being upon an equal footing, or, as our northern vulgar idiom 
has it, " Hail-fellow, well met." — Amell is commonly used here 
for betwixt or among. I find indeed that many of our Northum- 
brian rustic and vulgar words are derived to us from the French r 
Perhaps we have not imported them from the first market, but have 
had them at second hand from the Scots, a people that in former 
times were greatly connected with that nation. 

f In the ancient Roman calendar, so often cited, I find the follow- 
ing observations on the eleventh of June (the harvests in Italy are 
much earlier than with us) : 

" The season of reapers, and their custom with rustic pomp." 
Messorum sestas, et eorum consuetudo cum agresti pompa. 



308 Observations 07i 

it could hardly fail of being produced on this oc-^. 
casion, which is a temporary suspension of every 
care. 

The respect shewn to * servants at this season, 
seems to have sprung from a grateful sense of 
their good services. — Every thing depends at this 
juncture upon their labour and dispatch. 
Different places adopt different ceremonies : 
There is a sport on this occasion in Hertford- 
shire, called, " crying the mare," when the reap- 
ers tie togetlier the tops of the hst blades of corn, 
which is 7na7^e ; and standing at some distance, 

throw 

* Mr Pennant informs us, that a cu'>tom prevails in Gloucester- 
shire on the twelfth day, or on the epiphany in the evening : All 
the servants of every particular farmer assemble together in one 
of the fields that has been sown with wheat •, on the border of 
which, in the most conspicuous or most elevated place, they make 
twelve fires of straw in a row •, around one of which, made larger 
than the rest, they drink a cheerful glass of cyder to their master'* 
health, success to the future harvest, &c. then returning home, 
they feast on cakes made of carraways, &c. soaked in cyder, 
which thev claim as a reward for their past labours in sowing the 
erain. — This, he observes, seems to resemble a custom of the an- 
cient Danes, who, in their addresses to their rural deities, emptied 
on every invocation a cup in honour of them. Niordi et Frcjie me- 
moria }Mx;ulis recolebatur, annua ut ipsis contingcret fclicitas, fru- 
gumque et reliquas annonae ubcrrimus proventus. 

Worm. Monument. Dan. lib. 7. p. 2S. 
See Note in Pennant's Tour, p. 91. 
Dr Johnson tells us that he saw the harvest of a small field in ont- 
of the Western Islands : — The strokes of the sickle were timed by 
*he modulation of the harvest song, in which all their voices were 
united : Thev accompany in the Highlands every action which 
can be done in equal time with an appropriated strain, which ha«:, 
they say, not much meaning, but its effects arc regularity and 
chearfulness. The ancient proceleusmatic song, by which the 
rowers of gallies were animated, may be supposed to have been of 
this kind. There is now an oar song used by the Hebricians. — 
Thus far the learned traveller. Our sailors at Newcn^tle in hcav- 
ipg their anchors, &c. use a song of this kind. 



Chapter XXXI. 309 

throw their sickles at it, and he who cuts the 
knot, has the prize, with acclamations and good 
cheer *. Vide Bailey. 

Mr Thomson has left us a beautifid descrip- 
tion of this annual festivity of harvest-home, — His 
words are these : 

— — The harvest-treasures all 

Now gather'd in, beyond the rage of storms, 
Sure to the swain j the circling fence shut up j 
And instant winter's utmost rage defy'd : 
While, loose to festive joy, the country round 
Laughs with the loud sincerity of mirth, 
Shook to the wind their cares. The toil-strung youth, 
By the quick sense of music taught alone, 
Leaps wildly graceful in the lively dance. 
Her ev'ry charm abroad, the village toast, 
Young, buxom, warm, in native beauty rich, 
Darts not unmeaning looks j and where her eye 
Points an approving smile, with double force 
The cudgel rattles, and the wrestler twines^ 
Age too shines out j and, garrulous recount? 
The feats of youth. Thus they rejoice j nor think 
That with to-morrow's sun, their annual toil 
Begins aain the never-ceasing round. 

Autumn. Line 1134. 

XS AP- 

* Mr Blount tells us farther, ^* That after the knot is cut^ 
" then they cry with a loud voice three times, " / have herP 
*' Others answer, as many times, " What have you /" — A mare^ 
" a marey a mare : " Whose is she /" thrice also. J. B. (naming 
*' the o^vner three times) Whither will ye send her ? To Jo. a 
" Nicks, (naming some neighbour, who has not all his corn reap- 
*' ed) then they all shout three times, and so the ceremony ends 
" with good cheer. In Yorkshire, upon the like occasion, they 
•' have a harvest dame ; in Bedfordshire, 2ijack and a gill.'''' 

Blount in Verbo. 



APPENDIX. 



0f Pasche, or as they are commcnly called^ Paste 

Eggs. 

Ah OvO— HORAT. 

JPGGS^ stained with various colours in hoUbigy and 
sometimes covered witli Leaf-gold, are at Easta^ 
presented to children at Newcastle, and other 
places in the North. — They ask for their Paste 
Eggs, as for ajairi?2g, at this season. 

This custom, which had its beginning in childish 
superstition, seems to be aiding in a way not un- 
suitable to its origin. 

Paste is plainly a corruption of])aschCy * Easter. 

This also is a relique of popish superstition, 
which, for whatever cause, had made eggs em- 
blematic of tlie resu7Tection, as may be gathered 
from the subsequent prayer, t which the Reader 

wiU 

* Coles, in his Latin Dictionary, renders the pascJie or Easter egg^ 
by " Ovum paschaley croceum^ seu luteum^^ It is plain from hence 
that he has been acquainted with the custom of dying or staining 
eggs at this season. 

Ainsworth leaves out these two epithets, and calls it singly^ 
** Ovum paschale." — He has known nolliiiig I presume of this an- 
cient custom, and has therefore omitted the " croceum," or " lu- 
** teum." — It is in this manner, that many of our English Diction- 
aries have been improved in modem editions I 

f " Subveniat, quaesumus, Domine, tu« benedictionis gratia, 
*' huic Ovorum creaturie, ut cibus salubris fiat fidelibus luis in 
** tuarum gratiarum actione sumentibus, ob re?urrectionem Domini 
* nostri Jesu Christi, qui tecum, &c." p. 133. 



APPENDIX. 



311 



^vilI find in an " Extract from the ritual of Pope 
Paul the Vth, made for the use of England^ Ire- 
land^ and Scotland.," — It contains various other 
forms of benediction : — 

" Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy 
" creature of eggs^ that it may become a whole- 
" some sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating 
" it in thankfulness to thee, on account of the re- 
" surrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with 
" thee and the Holy Spirit," &c. 

The ancient Egyptians, if tlie resurrection of 
the body had been a tenet of their faith, would 
perhaps have thought an egg no improper hiero- 
glyphical representation of it. The exclusion of 
a living creature by incubation, after the vital 
principle has lain a long while dormant or extinct, 
is a process so truly marvellous, that if it could 
be disbelieved, would be thought by some a thing 
as incredible, as that the Author of life should be 
able to re-animate the dead^ 

I conjecture that the Romanists borrowed this 
custom from the Je'ws^ who in celebrating their 
passover, set on the table two unleavened cakes, 
and two pieces of the lamb ; to this they added 
some small fishes, because of the leviathan ; a 

X 4 hard 

In the Romish Bee-hive, Fol. 15. I find the following catalogue 
of popish superstitions, in which the reader will find our paste eggs 
very properly included: — " Many traditions of idle heads, which 
" the holy church of Rome hath received for a perfit serving of 
*' God : As fasting dayes, yeares of grace, differences and diversi- 
" ties of daijes, of meates, of clothing, -of candles, holy ashes, holif 
" pace egges ^nd flames, paimes 2Xid.paime bougheg. Staves, fooles 
" hoods, shells and bells, (relative to pilgrimages) licking of rotteti 
"^ hones, (reliques) &c. &c." 



B12 



APPENDIX. 



hard egg^ because of the bird ziz ; some meal, be- 
cause of the behemoth : These three animals be- 
ing, according to their rabinical doctors, ap- 
pointed for the feast of the elect in the other life. 

This custom still prevails in the Greek church : 
Dr Chandler, in his Travels in Asia Minor, gives 
us the following account of the manner of cele- 
brating Easter among the modern Greeks : " The 
" Greeks now celebrated Easter : A small bier, 
*' prettily decked ^vith orange and citron buds, 
*' jasmine flowers and boughs, was placed in the 
" church, with a Christ crucified rudely painted 
" on board, for the body : we saw it in the even- 
" ing, and before day-break were suddenly awak- 
" ened by the blaze and crackling of a large bone- 
" fire, with singing and shouting in honour of the 
" resurrection. — They made us presents of colour- 
" ^deggs^ and cakes of Easter bread *." 

" Easter day^ says the Abbe d'Autcroche in his 
" Journey to Siberia, is set apart for visiting in 
*' Russia. — A Russian came into my room, offered 
*' me his hand, and gave me at the same time an 
<« ^o-o-...— Another succeeded, he embraced mc, and 
*' ?\9^ogave me an egg. Igave him in return the egg 
*' I had just received. The men go to each other's 
" houses in the morning, and introduce them- 
*' selves into the houses, by saying, *' Jesus Christ 
" is risen." The answer is, " Yes, he is risen.'* 

" The 

* Probably the cross luns made at present on Good Friday, have 
been derived from those, or such like cakes of Easier bread. The 
country people in the north make with a knife many little cross 
7narks on their cakes, before they put them into the oven, &c. — 
I have no doubt but that this too, trilling as the remark may ap- 
pear, is a relique of Poperij, Thus also persons, ivho cannot "WTite, 
instead of signing their names, are bid to make their mark^ which 
is generally done in the form of a cross. 



APPENDIX. SIS 

^^ The people then embrace, give each other eggs^ 
*^ and drink a great deal of brandy." 

This corresponds pretty much with the subse- 
quent account of far older date, which I tran- 
scribe from Hakluyt's Voyages, 1589. Black 
Letter. Page 342. 

" They (the Russians) have an order at Eastei^ 
*' which they always observe, and that is this ; — 
" Every year against Easter, to die^ or colour red 
" with brazzel (Brazil wood,) a great number of 
*' eggs^ of which every man and vfom2LX). giveth one 
" unto the priest of the parish upon Easter day 
" in the morning. And moreover the common 
*^ people use to carry in their hands one of these 
" red eggs, not only upon Easter day, but also 
" three or four days after, and gentlemen and gen- 
'^ tlewomen have eggs gilded *, which they carry 
'' in like manner. — They use it, as they say, for a 
" great love, and in token of the resurrectiony 
" whereof they rejoice. For when two friends 
*' meet during the Easter holy-days, they come 
" and take one another by the hand ; the one of 
" them saith, " The Lord, or Christ is risen." 
" The other answereth, " It is so of a truth." 
*' Then they kiss and exchange their eggs, both 
^' men and 'women, continuing in kissing four days 
^' together." 

Our 



* Doctvor Chandler in his Travels in Greece, tells us, that at the 
city of Zante, " he saw a woman in a house, with the door open, 
** bewailinp- her little son, whose dead body lay by her, dressed, the 
** hair powdered, the face painted, and bedecked with leaf -gold. '''^ 

In the ancient Calendar of the Romish church, to which I have 
so often referred, I find the subsequent observation on the 25th of 
March, which I confess myself entirely at a loss how to translate ; 
" Ova anniinciatce, ut aiunt, reponuntur." 



514 appendix; 

Our ancient voyage writer means no more, it 
should seem, than that the ceremony was kept up 
for four days. 

Ray has preserved an old English proverb oa 
this subject : 

" I'll warrant you for an egg at Easter,'* 



Of Tobacco. 

Non fumum exfulgore^ sed ex fumo dai^e lucem 
CogitaL HoRAT. 

A Foreign JVeed^ which has made so maiij 
Englishmen^ especially of the common s; j t, 
become its slaves^ must not be omitted in ou a- 
talogue of popular antiquities. 

Captain R. Greenfield and Sir Francis Drake 
are said to have been the first who brought to- 
bacco into this kingdom, about the year 1586, (^lu- 
ring the reign of Elizabeth. — A pleasant kind of 
tale is given us in the Athenian Oracle, by w^ay of 
accounting for the frequent use and continuance 
of taking it: 

" When the Christians first discovered America, 
** the devil was afraid of losing his hold of the 
'^^ people there by the appearance of Christianity. 
" He is reported to have told some Indians of his 
" acquaintance, that he had found a way to be 
" revenged upon the Christians for beating up his 
"•' quarters, for he would teach them to take 

" tobacco. 



I 



APPENDIX, 



315 



^' tobacco, to which, when they had once tasted 
*' it, they should be perpetual slaves." 

Our British Solomon, James the 1st, who was a 
great opponent of the Devil, and even wrote a 
book against witchcraft, made a formidable at- 
tack also upon this " invention of Satan,'* in a 
learned performance, which he called a " Counter- 
" blaste to Tobacco *." It is printed in the Edi- 
tion of his works by Barker & Bill, London, 1616. 
He concludes this bitter blast \ of his, his sul- 
phureous invective against this transmarine weed, 

with 



* His Majesty in the course of his work informs us, ** that some 
** of the gentry of the land bestowed (at that time) three, some 
^'four hundred pounds a yeere upon \}\is precious stink!'''* 

An incredible sum, .'especially when we consider the value of 
money in his time. They must not have been Sterling but Scotch 
pounds. 

The following extraordinary account of a Buckinghamshire par- 
son who abandoned himself to the use of tobacco, is worth quoting. 
It may be found in Lilly's history of his life and times, p. 44. 

" In this year also, William Bredon, parson, or Vicar of Thorn- 
*' ton in Bucks, was living, a profound divine, but absolutely the 
** most polite person for nativities in that age, strictly adhering to 
*' Ptolemy, which he well understood ; he had a hand in composing 
** Sir Christopher Heydon's defence of judicial Astrology, being at 
" that time his chaplain j he was so given over to tobacco and 
** drink, that when he had no tobacco, (and I suppose too muck 
y drink) he would cut the bell-ropes and smoke them !" 

f How widely diiferent the strains of the subsequent parody : 
Little Tube of mighty pow'r, 
Charmer of an idle hour. 
Object of my warm desire, 
Lip of wax and eye oijire : 
And thy snowy taper waist. 
With vsiy finger gently brac''d\ 
And thy pretty swelling crest, 
With my little stopper prest, 
&c. 
, The stile of that puling bard, Ambrose Phillips, is here ridiculed. 

As 



516 



APPENDIX, 



with the following peroration : " Have you not 
" reason then to be ashamed and to forbear this 
" filthy novelty, so basely grounded, so foolishly 
" received, and so grossly mistaken in the right 
" use thereof ! In your abuse thereof sinning 
*' against God, harming yourselves both in persons 
" and goods, and taking also thereby (look to it, 
" ye that take snuff in profusion !) the jnarks and 
" notes oi vanity uponyoii ; by the custom thereof 
" making yourselves to be wondered at by all fo- 
" reign civil nations, and by all strangers that 
" come among you, to be scorned and contem- 
" ned ; a custom loathsome to the ej/e^ hateful to the 
" nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the hmgs^ 
'^ and in the black stinking fume thereof, nearest 
^' resembling the horrible Stj/gian smoke of the p7 
«« that is bottomless!'' 



u 



As is also tliat of the subsequent imitation of Dr Youne. 
Critics avaunt, tobacco is my theme ; 
Tremble like hornets at the blasting steam. 
And you, court-insects, flutter not too near 
Its light, nor buzz within the scorching sphere. 
PoUio, with flame like thine, my verse inspire. 
So shall the muse from smoke elicit fire. 
Coxcombs prefer the tickling sting of snuff j 
Yet all their claim to wisdom is — a puff : 
Lord Foplin smokes not — for his teeth afraid ; 
Sir Tawdry smokes not — for he wears brocade. 
Ladies, when pipes are brought, affect to swoon, 
They love no smoke, except the smoke of town ; 
But courtiers hate the puffing tribe — no matter. 
Strange if they love the breath that cannot flatter ! 
Its foes but shew their ignorance *, can he 
"Who scorns the leafoi knowledge, love the trte P 
Yet crowds remain, who still its worth proclaim. 
While some for jileasure smoke, and some for fame : 
Fame, of our actions universal spring. 
For which we drink, eat, sleep, smoke, every thing. 

Both of these were written by Hawkins Browne, Esq. 



If 



APPENDIX. 317 

If even this small specimen of our learned 
monarch's oratory, which seems well adapted to 
the understanding of old women, does not pre- 
vail upon them all to break in pieces their tobac- 
co pipes and forego smoaJdng^ it will perhaps be 
impossible to say what can. 

The subject, as his majesty well observes, is 
smoke, and no doubt many of his readers will 
think his arguments but the fumes of an idle brain, 
•and it may be added too, of an empty head i 



Of Witches. 

Devovet absentes, simulachraque cerea Jlngit, 
Etmiserum tenues m jecur urget acus. 

Ovid. 

JJ/^ITCH is derived from the Dutch Witcii- 
ELEN, which signifies "whinnying and neigh- 
ing like a horse : In a secondary sense, also to 
foretell and prophecy; because the Germans, as 
Tacitus informs us, used to divine and foretell 
things to come by the whinnying and neighing of 
their horses *. His very words are hirmitu hfremitu. 

Perkins 

* THere is a superstitious custom among some people, of nailing 
^orse-shoes on the threshold to keep out witches. 

To break the egg-shell after the meat is out, is a relique of su- 
perstition thus mentioned in Pliny, " hue pertinet Ovoruni, ut ex- 
'* orbuerit quisque, calices protinus frangi aut eosdem coclearibus 
''*' perforariy 

Dr Browne tells us, ihat the intent of this was to prevent witch- 
craft J for lest witches should draw, or prick their names therein, 

and 



318 APPENDIX. 

» ■ 

ijl Perkins defines witchcraft to be an art serving^ 

j for tlie working of wonders by the assistance of 

! the devil, so far as God will permit. — Delrio defines 

I it to be an art in which, by the power of a con- 

' tract entered into with the devil, some wonders 

are wrought which pass the common understand- 
ing of men. Lib. 1 . cap. 2. de Mag. disq. Vide 
Blount. 

Witchcraft, in modem estimation, is a kind of 
sorcery, (especially in women) in which it is ridi- 
culously supposed that an old uvman^ by entering 
into a contract with the devil, is enabled in many 
instances to change the course of nature, to raise 
winds, perform actions that require more than 
human strength ; and to afflict those that offend 
her with the shai'pest pains, &c. 

In those times of more than Egj-ptian dark- 
ness *, when ignorance and superstition over- 
spread 

and veneficlously mischief their persons, they broke the shell, as Da- 
lecarapius has observed. Vide Vulg. Errors. 

Mr Pennant tells us, in his Tour in Scotland, that the farmer? 
carefully preserve their cattle against witchcraft by placing bough? 
of the mountain ash, and honey-suckle in their cow-houses on the 
2d of May. — They hope to preserve the milk of their cows, and 
their wives from miscarriage, by tying red threads about t/iem ; 
they bleed the supposed witch to preserve themselves from her 
charms. 

* He tells us also, that in the last instance of these frantic exe- 
cutions for witchcraft in the north of Scotland, was in June 1127, 
as that in the south was at Paisley in 1696, where, among others, a 
woman, young and handsome, suffered, and with a reply to her en- 
quiring friends, worthy a Roman matron : 

Being asked why she did not make a better defence on her trial, 
she answered, ** My persecutors have destroyed my honour, and 
my life is not now worth the pains of defending." He goes on : 
" The last instance of national credulity on this head was the story 
of the witches of Thurso, who, tormenting for a long time an honest 
fellow under the usual form of cats, at last provoked him so, that 
«rte night he put them to flight with his broad sword, and cut off 

the 



APPENDIX, 319 

spread the world, many severe laws were made 
against witches, by which, to the disgrace of hu- 
manity, great numbers of innocent persons dis- 
tressed with poverty and age, were brought to 
violent and untimely ends. 

The witch-act, a disgrace to the code of Eng- 
lish laws, was not repealed till the year 1736 ! ! ! 

Lord Verulam, that sun of science that rose 
upon our island, and dispelled an hereditary night 
of ignorance and superstition, gives us the fol- 
lowing reflections on witches in the 10th century 
of his Natural History : they form a fine contrast 
to the narrow and bigotted ideas of the royal 
author of the Demonology. 

" Men may not too rashly believe the confes- 
sion of witches, nor yet the evidence against 
them : for the witches themselves are imaginative y 
and believe oftentimes they do that which they 

do 

the leg of one less nimble than the rest : On his taking it up, to 
his amazement he found it belonged to a female of his own species, 
Und next morning discovered the owner, an old hag, with only the 
companion leg to this." 

But these relations of almost obsolete superstitions must never be 
thought a reflection on this country, as long as any memory re- 
mains of the tragical end of the poor people at Tring, who, within a 
few miles of our capital itself, in 1751, fell a sacrifice to the belief 
of the common people in witches, or of that ridiculous imposture in 
the capital itself, in 1762, of the Cocklane ghost, which found cre- 
dit with all ranks of people. Note, p. 145. 

He farther observes, that at Edinburgh, there is still shewn a 
deep and wide hollow beneath Calton Hill, the place where those 
imaginary criminals, witches, and sorcerers, were burnt in less en- 
lightened times. 

The ingenious artist Hogarth, in his Medleij, represents with 
great spirit of satire, a witch, sucked by a cat, and flying on a 
broomstick : It being said, as Trusler remarks, that the familiar 
with whom a witch cofiverses, sucks her right breast, in shape of a 
lit tie dun cat, as smooth as a mole, which, when it has sucked, the 
v:^tch is in a kind of trance. Vide Hogarth Moralized, p. 116. 



320 APPENDIX. 

do not : And people are credulous in that pointy 
and ready to impute accidents and natural ope- 
rations to witchcraft. — It is worthy the observ- 
ing, that both in ancient and late times (as in the 
Thessalian witches and the meetings of w^itches 
that have been recorded by so many late confes- 
sions) the great wonders which they tell, of car- 
rying in the «/r, tramforming themselves into other 
bodies^ &c. are still reported to be wrought, not 
by incantation or ceremonies^ but by oiyitments and 
anointing themselves all over, — This may justly 
move a man to think that these fiibles are the ef- 
fects of imagination ; for it is certain that oint- 
ments do all (if they be laid on any thing thick) 
by stopping of the pores, shut in the vapours, 
and send them to the head extremely ; and for 
the particular ingredients of those magical oint- 
ments, it is like they are opiate and soporifcrous : 
for anointing of the forehead, neck, feet, back- 
bone, we know is used for procuring dead sleeps. 
And if any man say, that this eftcct would be 
better done by inward ])otions ; answer may be 
made, that the medicines which go to the oint- 
ments are so strong, that if they were used /;/- 
*ivards^ they would kill those that use them ; and 
therefore they work potently though outxcards,*' 
He tells us elsewhere ; 

" The ointment, that witches use, is reported 
to be made of the fat of children^ ^hgg^'^l out of 
their graves ; of the juices of S)nallage *, Xivl/e- 

bancy 

* 0//a autem omnium Mun/ut^i u,;i commune -v.i^l «.->c instro- 
mentutn^ quo succos^ herbas^ vermes et exta decoquant^ atque ca 
venefica dape ignavos ad vota alliciunt, ct instar buUientis olla', na- 
vlum & cquitum aut Cursorum excitant cckritatcm. Olai Magni. 
Gent. Septent. Hbt. Brev. p. 96. See also, for the witches, pot »r 
caldron, Macbeth. 



APPENDIX. 



321 



bane, and cinque Joil, mingled with the meal o^ fine 
wheat : But I suppose that the soporiferous medi- 
cines are likest to do it, which are hen-bane^ hem- 
lock^ mandrake^ moon-shade, tobacco, opium, saffron, 
poplar leaves, &c.^' — Thus far that great philoso- 
pher *. 

The Sabbath of witches is a nocturnal assembly- 
supposed to be held on Saturday, in which the de- 
vil is said to appear in the shape of a goat, about 
which they make several dances and magic cere*» 
monies. In order to prepare themselves for this 
meeting, they take several soporific drugs, after 
which they are fancied to fly up the chimney, and 
to be spirited or carried through the air, riding on 
a switch to their Sabbath assembly. Hence the 
idea o^ witches on broomsticks f . 

A 



* There had been about the time of Lord Verulam, no small stir 
concerning witchcraft. — Ben. Johnson, says Dr Percy, has left us a 
witch song, which contains an extract from the various incantations 
of classic antiquity. Some learned wise-acres had just before 
busied themselves on this subject, with our British Solomon, James 
I. ai their head. — And these had so ransacked all writers ancient 
and modern, and so blended and kneaded together the several su- 
perstitions of diflferent times and nations, that those of genuine 
English growth could no longer be traced out and distinguished. 

It was a supposed remedy against witchcraft to put some of the 
bewitched person's water, with a quantity of pins, needles, and 
nails, into a bottle, cork them up, and set them before the fire^ 
in order to confine the spirit ; but this sometimes did not prove 
sufficient, as it would often force the cork out with a loud, noise, 
like that of a pistol, and cast the contents of the bottle to a consi- 
derable height. \ 

Bewitched persons are said to fall frequently into violent fits, 
and vomit needles, pins, stones, nails, stubbs, wool and straw. 
See Trusler's Hogarth moralized. — Art. Medley. 

f The author of the Gent/e Shepherd, (a beautiful pastoral in the 
Scotch language, that equals perhaps the Idyllia of Theocritus,) has 

y made 



5^2 APPENDIX. 

A cai too is the " sine qua non^' of a witch :-^ 
These animals were anciently revered as emblems 
of the moon, and among the Egyptians were on 
that account so highly honoured as to receive sa- 
crifices and devotions, and had stately temples e- 
rected to their honour. It is said, that in whatev- 
er 

made great use of tliis superstition, — He introduces a cloini telling 
the powers of a w:tc/i in the following words : 

** She can o'ercast the night, and cloud the moon, 

** And mak the dcils obedient to lier crune. 

** At midnight hours o'er the kirk -yards she raves, 

" And howks unchristen''(i weans out of their graves ; 

** Boib up their livers in a warlock's p«w, 

" Rins withershins about the hemlock's low ; 

** And seven times does her pray'rs backwards pray, 

** Till plotock comes with lumps of Lapland clay, 

" Mixt with the venom of black taids and snakes ; 

** Of this unsonsy pictures aft she makes 

** Of ony ane she hate«< •, and gars expire 

" With slaw and racking pains afore a fire j 

** Stuck fou of prines, the devilish pictures melt *, 

** The pain by fowk they represent is felt. 

" And yondor's Mause- 

" She and her cat sit becking in her yard," &c. 

Afterwards he describes the ridiculous opini(xis of the country- 
people, who never fail to surmise that the commonest natural ef- 
fects are produced from causes that are supernatural : 

•* When last the wind made Glaud a roofless bam ; 

** "^Tien last the burn bore d()\Tn my mither's yam ; 

** When Brawny elf->hot never mair came hame ; 

" When Tihby kirn'd, and there nae buttOr came •, 

** When Bessy Freetock''s chuffy-chceked wean 

" To a fairy tiu-n'd, and cou'd nae stand its lane j 

** When IVatiie wander'd ae night thro' the shaw, 

•* And tint himsel amaist among the snaw j 

** WTien Mungo'^s marc stood still and swat with fright, 

** Wben he brought east the howdy under night j 

*' When Baivsy shot to dead upon tlie green, 

** And Sarah tint a snood was nae mair seen ; 

** You, Lucky ^ gat the ^vyte of aw fell out, 

" And ilka ane here dread* you round about, &c. 

The 



APPENDIX. 323 

er house a cat died, all the family shaved their 
eye-brows. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus re- 
late, that a Roman happening accidentally to kill 
a cat, the mob immediately gathered about the 
house where he was, and neither the entreaties of 
some principal men sent by the king, nor the fear 
of the Romans, with whom they were then nego- 
tiating a peace, could save the man's life. Vide 
Bailey, 

Hence no doubt they have been taken and a- 
dopted into the species of superstition under con- 
sideration. 

Mr Strutt, in his description of the ordeals un- 
der the Saxons, tells us, " That the second kind of 
" ordeal by water, was to thrust the accused into 
" a deep water, where, if he struggled in the least 
" to keep himself on the surface, he was account- 
" ed guilty ; but if he remained on the top of the 
" water without motion, he was acquitted with 
" honour. Hence (he observes) without doubt 
*' came the long continued custom of swimming 
" people, suspected of witchcraft. — There are also, 

" he 

The old woman In the subsequent soliloquy gives us a phlloso-- 
phical account of the people's folly : 

" Hard luck, alake ! when poverty and eild 
" Weeds out of fashion j and a lanely bield, 
" With a sma' cast of wiles, should in a twitch, 
** Gie ane the hatefu' name, a wrinkled witch. 
*' This fool imagines, as do mony sic, 
" That I'm a wretch in compact with auld AVrA, 
" Because by education I was taught, 
** To speak and act aboon their comrnon thought.'''' 
This pastoral, unfortunately for its fame, is written in a language 
but local, and not generally understood. — Had Mr Addison known, 
or could he have read this, ho^v fine a subject would it have afford- 
ed him on which to have displayed his inimitable talent for criti- 
cism ! 



324 APPENDIX. 

" he observes farther, the faint traces of these au- 
'' cient customs in another superstitious method of 
*^ proving a witch ; it was done by weighing the 
** suspected party against the church Bible, which 
*' if they outweighed, they were innocent ; but on 
•' the contrary, if the Bible proved the heaviest, 
*' they were instantly condemned. — However ab- 
" surd and foolish these superstitious customs may 
** seem to the present age, little more, he observes, 
'* than a century ago, there were several unhappy 
" wretches, not only apprehended, but also cruelly 
** burnt alive for witchcraft, on very little better 
** evidence than the above ridiculous trials. Se- 
*' veral great and learned men have also taken vast 
*' pains to convince the doubting age of the real 
•' existence of witches, and the justness of their 
•' executions: But so very unbelieving we are grown 
*' at present in these and such like stories, as to 
•* consider them only as the idle phantoms of a fer- 
'* tile imagination/^ 

The ephialtes, or night mare^ is called by the 
common people xci/ch-t iding. This is in fact an 
old Gothic or Scandinavian superstition ; Mara*y 

from 

* The reader uill please to add an observation to the note id 
page 116, " Boggle-b(x;." Bo/i, Mr Warton tells us, was one of 
the most fierce and formidable of the Gothic generals, and the son 
of Odin ; the mention of ijuhose name only was sufficient to spread 
an immediate panic among his enemies. — Few will question the pro- 
bability of an opinion that has the sanction of the very learned and 
ingenious person who has advanced this. — It b an additional in- 
stance of the inconstancy of fame. — The terror of warriors has 
dwindled down into a name contemptible with men^ and only re- 
tained for the purpose of intimidating children : A reflection as 
mortifying to human vanity as that of our poet, Shakespear, whose 
imagination traced the noble dust of Alexander, till he found it 
stopping a bunghoU I Sec Hamlet. 



APPENDIX. 325 

from whence our night-mare is derived, was in the 
runic theology, a spectre of the nighty which seized 
men in their sleep^ and suddenly deprived them of 
speech and motion. See Warton's first Dissertat. 
Hist. Poet. 

In Ray^s Collection of Proverbs, I find the fol- 
lowing relative to this superstition: 

'' Go in God's name, so ride no zmtches.^^ 
There is also aScotcIi one : 
" Ye breed o/'the zmtches, ye can do nae good to 
y-oursep^ 



Of Carlincs. % 

AT Newcastle upon Tyne, and other places in 
the north of England, ^r<?y peas^ * after hav- 
ing been steeped a night in water, are fried with but- 
ter, given away, and eaten at a kind of entertainment 
jon the Sunday preceding Palm-Sunday, which was 
formerly called Care-Sunday^ as may be yet seen in 
some of our old almanacks. — They are called car- 
lings^ probably a corruption of carings^ as we call 
the presents at owx fairs ^ fairings, Marshall in his 
observations on the Saxon Gospels, Vol. I. p. 5t^^ 

Y 3 elucidates 

* There were several religious uses of pulse, particularly beans ^ 
among the Romans.-r-Hence Pliny says, " in eaidem peculiaris reli- 
« gio." Thus in Ovid's Fasti, book 5. 1. 435. where he is de- 
scribing some superstitious rites for appeasing the dead: 
" Terque manus puras fontana proluit unda j 
" Vertitur, et nigras accipit ore f abas. 
" Aversusque jaoit : sed dum jacit, Haec ego mitto : 
*« His, inquit, redimo^ meque meosquefabisJ''' 

Thtis. 



S26 APPENDIX. 

elucidates the old name (care) of this Sunday in 
lent: He tells us, " That the Friday, on which 
"Christ was crucified, is called in German, both 
" Gute Freytag and Karr Frey tag ;" — that the word 
*' Karr signifies a satisfaction for a tine or penalty ; 
^' and that Care or Carr Sunday was not unknown 
** to the English in his time, at lea^st to such as 
" lived among old people in the country */' — 
Rites, peculiar it should seem to Good Fridatj^ were 
used on this daij^ which was called Pmsion Sunday 
in the church of Rome. Durand assigns many su- 
perstitious reasons for this, which confirm the fact, 
but are too ridiculous for transcribing. 

Lloyd tells us, in his Dial of Days, that on the 
12th of March j", they celebrated at Rome the 
mysteries of Christ and his passion, with much de- 
votion and great ceremony. — In the old Romish 

calendar 



Thus also in book 2. 1. 575. 
*' Turn cantata ligat cum fusco licia rhombo j 
" Et septem nigras versat in ore f abas y 
Sacrificia apud Gv^lou pro mortuis erant, alia a tempore, ut t^«t«, 
intLTst, r^ieixa^ii, alia nomcn a re significata i»umcbant, ut ;c»«'j '»'«<- 
jgiat. alia a sepulchris, ut tvr»pni ; alia a mortuis, ut xfyvv-MK-nTn^ut. 
Pollux lib. S. cap. ult. Caei. Hhod. lib. 17. cap. 21. A-M:hin. con- 
tra Ctesiphont. Dcmosth. adversus Macartatum. hujusmodi\\i^hQ\ 
papa, Moresini Dcprav. Rel. Grig. 153. 

* Memiiii me ltgi>6e diem illam veneris, in qua passus est Chris- 
tus, Germanice dici ut gute Freytag, ita Karr-Freytag, a voce Karr, 
quae satisfactionem pro mulcta significat. — Certe Care vel Carr 
Sunday non prorsus inauditum est hodiernis Anglis, ruri saltern in- 
ter sents defc;entibu.s. 

f Passion, or Car/ing Sunday, might often happen on this daj. 
— Easter alsvays falls between the iJlst of March, and the ::6th of 
April. I knov; not why these rites were conhned in the calendar 
to ihe 12th of March. However that be, one cannot doubt of their 
having belonged to what Durand calls Passion Sunday. 



APPENDIX, 



327 



■calendar so often cited, I find it observed on this 
^ay, that " a dole is made o^soft beans */* 

I have satisfied myself f that our custom is de- 
rived from hence, and hope to evince it clearly to 
my readers. It was usual amongst the Romanists 
to give away beans in the doles at funerals : % It 
was also a rite in the funeral ceremonies of heathen 
Rome. Why we have substituted peas I know not, 
unless it was because they are a pulse somewhat 
fitter to be eaten. They are given away in a kind 
of a dole at this day : In the country, men assem- 
ble at the village alehouse, carlings are set before 
them, and each spends his carling groat. Our po- 
pish ancestors celebrated the funeral of our Lord 
on this Care Sunday, with many other supersti- 
tions ; this only has travelled down to us. Du- 
ra nd tells us, that on Passion Sunday the church be- 
gan her public grief, remembering the mystery of 
the cross, tJie vinegar, the gall, the reed, the spear, 
&c. 

Y 4 There 



* " The soft beans'''* are much to our purpose : Why *w//, but 
for the purpose of eating I Thus our peas on this occasion are steep^ 
ed in water, 

\ Ouadragesimae reformatio 

Cum stationibus & toto mysterio passionis. 
Fahce molles in Sportuiam dantur, 

X Fab is Romani saepius in sacrificiis fiineralibus (^eratisunt, nee 
est ea consuetudo abolita alicubi inter Christianos, ubi in Eleemo- 
sinam pro mortuis Fabce distribuuntur, Moresini Deprav. Rel, p. 
5Q, verb. Fabis. 

" The repast designed for the dead, consisting commonly of 
" beans, &c." Kennett's Roman Antiq. p. 361. 

In the lemuria, which was observed the 9th of May, every other 
night for three times, to pacify the ghosts of the dead, the Roman* 
threw beans on the fire of the altar, to drive them out of their 
houses. 



R 



328 APPENDIX. 

There is a great deal of learning in Erasmus' * 
Adages concerning the religious use of beans; 
they were thought to belong to the dead : — An 
observation he gives us of Pliny concerning Py- 
thagoras' interdiction of this pulse is highly re- 
markably ;— it is, " That beans contain the souls of 
" the dead:'''* For which cause also they are used 
in the Parenlalia, Plutarch too, he tells us, held, 
that pulse was of the highest efficacy for invoking 
the manes. — Ridiculous and absurd as these super- 
stitions are, yet it is certain that our Curlings de- 
duce their origin from hence. Every ancient su- 
perstition seems to have been adopted into papal 
Christianity. 

The vulgar here in the north give the following 
names to Sundays in Lent, the first of which is a- 
nonymous : 

Tid, Mid, Misera, 

Carling, Palm, Paste Egg Day. 

I suspect that the three hrst are corruptions of 
some part of the ancient Latin service •}* on these 

days 

* Quin & apud Romanos inter fiinesta habebantur fabae : quippe 
quas ncc tangerc, nee nominare Diali Hamini liceret, quod ad Mor- 
tuos pertinere putarcntur. Nam et Lemuribus jacicbantur larvis 
& Parentalibus adhibebantur sacrificiU & in Hore carum literal luc- 
tus appaiere videntur ut teatatur Festus Pompeius. Plinius existi- 
mat ob id a Pythagora damnatam fabara, quod hebetet sensus & 
pariat Insomnia, vel quod Animae Mortoorum sint in ea. Qua dc 
causa et in Parentalibus assumitur. Unde et Plutarchus testatur, 
legumina potissimum valere ad evocandos manes. Erasmi Adag. in 
Prov. Afabis ahstineto. 

\ In the Festa Anglo. Romano, London, 1678, we are told, the 
first Sunday in Lent is called Quadragesima or Invocavit \ the 2d 
Reminiscerc, the 3d Oculi, the 4th LaHare, the 5th Judica, and 
6th Dominica Magna. — Or////, from the entrance of the 14th ver. of 
25th Psalm. Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, &c. — Rcminiscert* , 
from the entrance of 5th verse of Psalm 25. — Rcrainisccre miscra- 
tionum, &c. and so %i the other?. 



APPENDIX. 



339 



days, perhaps the beginnings of Psalms, &c. Te 
Deum, Mi Deus, MeserevQ mei. — See the goose 
intentos^ in the notes on chapter XVllI. the Carl'mg 
we have been describing ; Palm Sunday is obvi- 
ous ; and for the last, or Easter Sunday, see paste 

The word care* is preserved in the subsequent 
account of an obsolete custom at marriages in 

this 



* In a pamphlet published in Manchester, 1763, containing a 
View of the Lancashire Dialect^ &c. I find this article in the 
Glossary, " Carlings, pease boiled on Care Sunday are so called, 
" i. e. the Sunday before Palm-Sunday." Joannes Boemus Auba- 
nus tells us of a custom used in Franconia in the middle of Lent, 
in which he mentions peas, which were eaten at that time. *' In 
" medio quadragesimae, quo quidem Tempore ad laetitiam nos Ec- 
" clesia adhortatur, Inventus in patria mea ex stramine imaginem 
" contexit, quae mortem ipsam (quemadmodum depingitur) imi- 
** tetur 'y inde hasta suspensam in vicinos pagos vociferans portat. 
** Ab aliquibus perhumane suscipitur, et lacte,pww siccatisque py^ 
** ris, (jquibus turn vuigo niesci solemus) refecta, domum remittitur: a 
** caeteris, quia malae res (ut puta mortis) praenuncia sit, humanita- 
*' tis nihil percipit : sed armis et'igTiomiriia etiam adfecta, a sinibus 
" repellitur." Which may be thus Englished : " In the middle of 
" Lent the youth in my country make an image of straw in the 
*' form of death, as it is usually depicted. They suspend it on a 
** pole, and carry it with acclam.ations into the neighbouring villages » 
*< — Some receive this pageant kindly, and after a refreshment of 
** milk, peas, and dryed pears, (which we commonly eat at that 
** time^ it is sent home again. Others thinking it a presage of. 
*' something bad (death for instance) forcibly drive it away from 
" their respective districts." 

The fourth Sunday in' Lent, says Wheatly on the Common Pray- 
er, is generally called Midlent, though Bishop Sparrow and some 
others term it Dominica Refectionis, the Sunday of Refreshment, 
the reason perhaps is because the gospel for the day treats of our 
Saviour's feeding miraculously five thousand, or else from the first 
lesson in the morning, which gives us the stoiy of Jes^h's enter- 
taining his brethren. — -He is of opinion, that the appointment of 
these scriptures upon this day, might probably give the first rise to 
a custom still retained in many parts of England, apd well known 
by the name of Midlenting, or Mothering. 

Bailey 



530 APPENDIX. 

this kingdom ; *' According to the use of the 
" church of Sarum, when there was a marriage 
** before mass, the parties kneeled together, and 
" had a fine linen cloth (called the care-clotk) laid 
" over their heads during the time of mass, till they 
" received the benediction, and then were dismiss- 
** ed." Vide Blount in Verbo. 

Dr Chandler, in his Travels in Greece, tells us, 
that he was at a funeral entertainment amongst the 
modern Greeks, where, with other singular rites, 
" Two followed, carrying on their heads each a 
" great dish o{ parboiled wheat : These were deposit- 
" ed over the dud//.'' 

I know not whether the following passage be not 
to our purpose : Skelton, Poet Laureat to Henry 
Vlllth, in his Co/in Ciouty inveighing against the 
clergy, has these words, in his usual strange and 
rambling stile : 



Men call you therefore prophanes, 
Ye picke no shrympes, nor pranes. 
Salt-fish, stock-fish, nor herring. 
It is not for your wearing. 
Nor in holy Lenton season, 
Ye will neither beanes ne peason : 
But ye look to be let loose, 
To a pygge or to a goose, 
&c. 



Pan- 



Bailey supposea motherings a custom still retained in many 
places of England, of visiting parents on Mid-lent Sunday, to have 
been so called from the respect paid in old time to the mother- 
church. It being the custom for people in Popish times to viat 
their mother-church on Mid-lent Sunday, and to make their offer-: 
ings at the high altar. 



APPENDIX. 



331 



Pancake Tuesday. 

THIS is also called in the North Fastens.or Fas- 
tern's E'en, or even, or Shrove Tuesday ; the 
succeeding day being Ash-Wednesdai/, the first of 
the Lentenfast^. 

At Newcastle upon Tyne, the great bell of St 
Nicholas' Church is tolled at twelve o'clock at 
noon on this day ; shops are immediately shut up, 
offices closed, and all kind of business ceases; a 
sort of little carnival ensuing for the remaining part 
of the day. 

The preceding Monday is vulgarly called here 
collop Monday ; — eggs and collops compose a usual 
dish at dinner on it, as pancakes do on this day, 
from which custom they both derive their names. 

On collop Monday in Papal times they must have 
taken their leave of the flesh, which was anciently 
preserved through the winter, by salting, drying, 
and hanging up : Slices of this kind of meat are at 

this 



* J. BoSmus Aubanus gives us the following description of the 
manner of spending the three days before the lent fast commenced, 
commonly called the carnival^ that is, " the bidding farewell to 
flesh." 

Populari spontanea insania Germania tunc vivit. Comedit et 
bihit, seque ludo jocoque omnimodo adeo dedit, quasi usui nunquam 
veniant, quasi eras moritura, hodie prius omnium rerum satietatem 
capere velit. Novi aliquid spectaculi quisque excogitat, quo men- 
tes et oculos omnium delectet, admirationeque detineat. Atque, 
ne pudor obstet, qui $e ludicro illi committunt, facies larvis obdu- 
cunt, se^^um et aetatem mentientes, viri mulierum vestimenta, mu- 
lieres virorum induunt. Qiiidam Satyros, aut malos daemones potius 
representare volentes, minio se, aut atramento tingunt, habituque 
nefando deturpant, alii nudi discurrentes Lupercos agunt, a quibus 
ego annuum istum delirandi morem ad nos defluxisse existimo. p. 
267. 



535 



APPENDIX 



this day called collops * in the North, whereas they 
are named steaks when cut from fresh meat^ as un- 
salted Jiesh is usually stiled here ; a kind of food 
which our ancestors seem to have seldom tasted in 
the depth of winter. 

A kind of pancake feast preceding Lent j*, was 
used in the Greek Church, from whence we have 
probably borrowed it, with pasche eggs, and other 
such like ceremonies : '* The Russes, as Hakluyt 
" tells us, begin their Lent always eight weeks be- 
fore 






* Collop (S. of doubtful etymology) a small slice of meat, a 
piece of any animal. Ash, 

Colab, colob, segmentum. unde anglis coiabs & ^g^^ dicuntur 
segmenta lardi ovis instrata. KdAccCd,' Suidae est Offuloy buccea par- 
vula. m. »«x»Co*>, decurtOy minuo. Adi quoque Etym. Vo6s. in 
Collabi. M. Casaubon. de vet. ling. Angl. p. 279. 

Lye*s Junii Etymolog. 

Collopy minshew deflcctit « K«X«V]*', incijdo, vel. a bclg. kolz, 
carbo, & op, super, ut idem sit quod Fr. G. Carbonadcy vel a 
IC«AA«%//, corium durius in cervicibus et dorsis bourn, aut ovium, vel 
a KdAcy, cibus, vel a K«A«Co{, quod Vossio in Et. LL. exp. Buccea. 
Ofiula. Skinner in V. 

Dr Kennett, in the Glossary to his Parochial Antiquities, tells 
us of an old Latin Avoid colponery slices or cut pieces, in Welch a 
gollwith, 

f Bishop Hall, in his Triumphs of Rome, thus describes the jo- 
vial carneval : " Every man cries ScioitOj letting himself loose to 
'* the maddest of merriments, marching wildly up and down in all 
** forms of disguises j each man striving to outgo other in strange 
** pranks of humourous debauchedness, in which even those of the 
•* holy order are wont to be allowed their share : For howsoever 
** it was by some sullen authority forbidden to clerks and votaries 
** of any kind to go masked and misguided in those seemingly a- 
** busive solemnities, yet more favourable construction hath offered 
" to make them believe, that it was chiefly for their sakes, for the 
*' refreshment ol' their sadder and more restrained spints, that this 
^* free and lawless festivity was taken up." P. 19. 



APPENDIX, 



335 



** fore Easter ; the first week they eat eggs, milk, 
" cheese, and butter, and make great cfieer^ with 
" pancakes, and such other things." 

The custom of frying pancakes, (in turning of 
which in the pan, there is usually a good deal of 
pleasantry in the kitchen) is still retained in many 
families in the North, but seems, if the present fa- 
shionable contempt of old customs continues, not 
likely to last another century. 

The apprentices, whose particular holiday this 
day is now called, and who are on several accounts 
so much interested in the observation of it, ought, 
with that watchful jealousy of their ancient rights 
and liberties^ (typified here by pudding and play^ 
which becomes young Englishmen to guard against 
every infringement of its ceremonies, and transmit 
them entire and unadulterated to posterity! 

In the Oxford almanacks, the Saturday preced- 
ing this day is called Fest. Ovorum, the egg feast. 

Their egg Saturday corresponds with our collop 
Monday, 



Of the Ring Finger. 



T 

the 



HE particular regard to this finger is of high 

antiquity. It hath been honoured with 

golden * token and pledge of matrimony 

pre- 



* Annulus sponste dono mittebatur 3. viro, qui pronubus dictus, 
Alex, ab Alex. lib. 2. cap. 5. Et mediant e annulo contrahitur mA' 
trimonium papanorum. Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 12. 

Dextra data, acceptaque inmcem Persae et Assyrii foedus matri* 
woniiineunL Alex, ab Alsv. lib. 3. cap. 5. Papatus retinet. 

Ibid. p. 50* 



334 



APPENDIX. 



preferably to any other finger, not, as Levirtus 
Lemnius in his Occult Miracles of Nature tells us, 
because there is a 72^/x'e*, as some have thought, 
but because a small artery runs from the heart to 
t\\\^ finger^ the motion of which in parturient wo- 
men, &c. may be perceived by the touch of the 
finger Index. 

This opinion has been exploded by later physi- 
cians, but it was from hence that antiquity judg- 
ed it worthy, and selected it to be adorned with 
the circlet of gold. They called it also the medical 
jinger^ and were so superstitious as to mix up their 
medicines and potions with it. 

Some of the common ceremonies at marriao:es 
seem naturally to tali under this class of popular 
antiquities. 

1 have received, from those who have been pre- 
sent at them, the following account of the customs 
used at vulgar northern xceddlngs about half a cen- 
tury ago "f. 

The 



* Mr WHieatly tells us, thatt he Kubrick of the Salisbury Ma^ 
nual has these words ; " It is because from thence there proceeds 
** a particular vein to the heart." This indeed, he adds, is now 
contradicted by experience *, but several eminent authors, as well 
Gentiles as Christians, as well physicians as diWnes, were formerly 
of this opinion, and therefore they thought this finger the properes 
to bear this pledge of love, that from thence it might be conveyed 
as it were to the heart. lUust. Comm. Prayer, p. 437. 

f The author of the Convivial Antiquities thus describes the 
rites at marriages in liis country and time : " Antequam eatur in 
" templum jentaculum sponsa et invitatis apponitur, serta atquc 
*' corollce dibtribuuntur. Postea certo ordinc viri primum cum 
** sponsOy dein.le puellce cum sponsa in tempium procedunt. '* Pe- 
" raota re divina ^ponsa ad sponsi doraum deducitur, indeque panu 
projicituvy qui a pueris certatim rapitur, Frandium sequitur Cana, 

ccenam, 



APPENDIX. 



53^ 



The young women in the neighbourhood, with 
bride- favours (knots * or ribbands) at their breasts, 
and nosegays in their hands, attended the bride on 
her wedding day in the mornmg.'^Fore-riders an^ 
nounced with shouts the arrival of the bridegroom : 
After a kind of breakfast, at which the bride-cakes f 
were set on, and the barrels broached, they walked 
out towards the church. — The bride was led by 
two young men ; the bridegroom by izm young wo- 
men: Pipers preceded them, while the crowd toss^ 
ed up their hats, and shouted and clapped their 
hands. An indecent custom prevailed after the 
ceremony, and that too before the altar : — Young 

men 



coenam comessatio, quas epulas omnes trtpudia atque saltationes 
•* comitantur. Postremo sponsa ahrepta ex saltatione subito atque 
iponsus in thalamum deducuntur." Fol. 68. 

* See the article True-love-knot, in the Appendix. 

f There was a ceremony used at the solemnization of a marriage, 
called confarreation, in token of a most firm conjunction between 
the man and wife, with a cake of wheat or ba?ley : This ceremony, 
Blount tells us, is still retained in part with us, by that which we 
call the bride-cake, used at weddings. Confarreation and the ring 
were used anciently as binding ceremonies, in making agreements, 
grants, &c. as appears from the subsequent extract from an old 
grant, cited in Du Gauge's Glossary. Verb. Confarreatio : 

" Miciacum concedimus et quidquid est fisci nostri intra flumi- 
" num alveos et per sanctam confarreationem et annulum inexcep- 
** tionaliter tradimus." 

Moresin mentions the bride-cake thus : Sumanalia, panis erat 
ad formam rotce factus : hoc utuntur papani in nuptiis, &c. De- 
prav. Rel. Orig. p. 165. 

I will give one authority more. 

Quint. Curtius tells us, lib. 1. de gest. Alex. " Et Rex medio 
" cupiditatis ardore jussit afferri patrio more panem (hoc erat apud 
** Macedones sanctissimum coeuntium pignus) quern divisum gla- 
** dio uterque libabat." 

In the north, slices of the bride-cake are put through the ived- 
ding ring, they are afterwards put under pillows at night to caus<r 
young persons to dream of their lovers. 



336 APPENDIX. 

young men strove who could first unloose *, or rather 
pluck oflf the bride's garters : Ribbands supplied 
their place on this occasion ; whosoever was so for- 
tunate as to tear them thus oflF from her legs, bore 
them about the church in triumph. 

It is still usual for the young men present to sa- 
lute the bride immediately after the performing of 
the marriage service. 

Four, with their horses, were waiting without ; 
they saluted the bride at the church gate, and im- 
mediately mounting, contended who should first 
carry home the good news, " and win what they 
called THE KAIL," i. e. a smoking prize of spice- 
broth, which stood ready prepared to reward the 
victor in this singular kind of race. 

Dinner succeeded ; to that dancing and supper ; 
after which 2l posset f was made, of which the bride 
and bridegroom were always to taste first. — The 
men departed the room till the bride was undress- 
ed by her maidsy and put to bed ; the bridegroom 
in his turn was undressed by his men, and the ce- 
remony concluded with the well-known rite of 
throwing the stocking %. 

At 

* I have sometimes thought this a fragment of the ancient Gre- 
cian and Roman ceremony, the loosening the virgin ^none or girdle^ 
a custom that wants no explanation. 

f Skinner derives this word from the French poser, residere, to 
settle *, because when the milk breaks, the cheesy parts, being 
heavier, subside. Nobis proprie designat lac calidum infuso vino^ 
cerevisia, &c. coagulatum. Lye's Junii Etymolog. in Verbo. 

X I find the following singular custom in the Convivial Antiq, 
Fol. 229 : Ceremonia hodie in nobilium nuptiis apud Germanos 
usitata qua sponsa, postquam in thalamimi ad lectum genialem est 
deducta, calceum detr actum in circumstantium turbam projicit, 
quern qui excipit (in quo ccrtatim omnes laborant) is id ceu 

fiituri 



APPENDIX. 337 

At present a party always attend here at the 
church gates, after a wedding, to demand of the 
bridegroom moneif {or di foot-ball : This claim ad- 
mits of no refusal. — Coles, in his Dictionary, men- 
tions the ball moneij^ which he says was^/i;e« by a 
neio bride to her old play -fellows. 

Our rustics retain to this day many supersti- 
tious notions concerning the times of the year, 
when it is accounted luckij or otherwise to perform 
this ceremony. None are ever married on C/iilder- 
maS'daij *; for whatever cause, this is a black day 
in the calendar f of impatient lovers. 

The 

futuri matrimonii felix famtumque omen interpretatur. See ob- 
servations on Mr Bourne's chapter on omens, — " Throwing an old 
" shoe:'' Page 94. 

Mr Pennant tells us, that among the Highlanders during the 
marriage ceremony, great care is taken that dogs do not pass be- 
tween them, and particular attention is paid to the leaving the 
bridegroom's left-shoe without buckle or latchet, to prevent 
witches § from depriving him on the nuptial night of the power of 
loosening the virgin 'zone. Tour, p. 160. 

* Tempus quoque nuptiarum celebrandarum certum a veteribus 
definitum et constitutum esse invenio. Concilii Ilerdensis 33. q. 4. 
Et in decreto Juonis lib. 6. Non oportet a septuagesima usque in 
octavam paschae, et tribus hebdomadibus ante festivitatera S. 
Joannis Baptistas, et ab admentu domini usque post Epiphaniarn 
nuptias celebrare. Quod si factum fuerit, separentur. Conviv. 
Antiq. Fol. 72. 

f Sic apud Romanos olim mense maio nubere inauspicatum ha-*: 
[ bebatur, unde Ovid, in Fastis : 

Nee viduae taedis eadem, nee virginis apta 
Tempera : quae nupsit, non diuturna fuit. 
Hac quoque de causa, si te proverbia tangunt^ 
Mense raalas Maio nubere vulgus ait, 

ihid, 
Z There 

J An old opinion, Gesner says, that the witches made use of 
toads as a charm, " ut vim coeundi, ni fallor, in viris tollerent.*' 
Ge«i€r. de quad, Ori. p. 72. 



33S APPENDIX. 

The subsequent proverb from Ray marks ano- 
ther ancient conceit on this head : 
*' Who maiTies between the sickle and the scythe 
will never thrive/^ 
The following must not be omitted, though I 
have given it before in the chapter that relates to 
burial rites: 
" Happy is the bride the sun shines on, and the 
corpse the rain rains on." 
I shall add a third, which no doubt has been 
often quoted for the purpose of encouraging a dif- 
fident or timorous mistress : 
" As your wedding ring wears, your cares wilf 
wear away/' 
There was a custom in the Highlands and 
north of Scotland, where new-married persons, 
who had no great stock, or others low in their for- 
tune, brought carts and horses with them to the 
houses of their relations and friends, and received 
from them corn, nieal, wool^ or what else they could 
get. See Glossary to Douglas' Virgil, verb. Thig. 

Of 

There was a rcmark^fblc kind of marriage contract amongst the 
Danes, called hand-festing. See Ray's Collect, of Local Words, 
Glossarium Northanhymbricum. 

The mere he t a tnulierum has been discredited by an eminent 
antiquary. It was said, that Eugenius the 3d king of Scotland did 
wickedly ordain, that the lord or master should have the first night's 
lodging with every woman married to his tenant, or bond-man j 
which ordinance was afterwards abrogated by King Malcome the 
3d, who ordained that the bridegroom should have the sole use of 
his own wife, and therefore should pay to the lord, a piece of money 
called marca, Hect. Boel. 1. 3. ca. 12. Spots. Hist. Fol. 29. 

They must have been (in the ancient sense of the word) villains 
indeed, who could fubmit to this lingular species of dc^p otism ! 



APPENDIX. 



339 



Of the Sajjing, " I'll pledge you." 

Quo iibi potar urn plus est in ventre sal u turn, 
Hoc minus epotis, hisce salutis habes. 
Una salus sanis^ nullam potare sal u tern. 
Non est in pota vera salute saius, 

Owen, Epigram, P. 1. lib, 2. Ep. 42. 

MR Blount derives this word from the French 
pleige^ 2i surety, or gage.— To pledge one 
drinking is generally thought to have had its ori- 
gin thus : When the Danes bare sway in this land, 
if a native drank, they would sometimes stab him 
with a dagger or knife ; hereupon people would 
not drink in company*, unless some one present 
would be their pledge or surety, that they should 
receive no hurt, whilst they were in their draught. 
Others affirm the true sense of the word to be 
this ; That if the person drank unto, was not dis- 
posed to drink himself, he would put another for a 
pledge to do it for him, otherwise the party who 
began, would take it ill. 

Z 2 Mr 



* There was an ancient custom called a bid-ale or bidder'ahy 
from the Saxon hidden, to pray or supplicate, when any honest man 
decayed in his estate, was set up again by the liberal benevolence 
and contributions of friends at a feast, to which those friends were 
bid or invited. It was most used in the west of England, and in 
some countries called a kelp ale. Such instances of benevolence 
are retained in the north. — At the Christening entertainments of 
many of the poor people (who are fortunate enough to provide 
more mouths than they find meat for) great collections are made 
oftentimes by the guests, and such as will far more than defray the 
expences of the feast of which they have been partaking* 



Wh 



340 A P P E N D I X. 

Mr Strutt confirms the former opinion in the 
following words : The old manner of pledging 
each other when they drank * was thus : The 
person who was going to drink, asked any one of 
the company who aat next him, whether he 

would 

* Such great drinkers, says he also, -were the Danes, who were 
in Englanain the time of Edgar, and so much did their bad ex- 
ample prevail with the English, that he, by the advice of Dunstan, 
Archbishop of Canterbury, put down many ale-houses, suflfering 
only one to be in a village, or small town : And he has also 
ijj(v further ordained, that pins or nails should be fastened into the 

drinking cups and liorns at stated distances, and whosoever should 
drink beyond these marks at one draught, should be obnoxious to a 
severe punishment. This was to prevent the pernicious custom of 
drinking. Ibid, 
1' , Bumpers are of great antiquity. — Thus Paulus Wamefridus i? 

V cited in Du Cange's Glossary, telling us, in lib. 5. de gestis Lango- 

|P bard. Cap. 2. " Cumque ii qui diversi generis potiones ei a regc 

'fA " deferebant, de verbo regis eum rogarent, ut toiam fialam biber- 

** ent, ille in honorem regii sc totam bibere promittens, parum aquae 
" libabat de argenteo calice." Vide Martial, lib. 1. Ep. ~2. lib. 
S. 51, &c. • 

That it is good to be drunk once a month^ says the author of the 
Vulgar Errors, is a common flattery of sensuality, supporting itself 
upon physic, and the healthful effects of inebriation. — It is a strik- 
ing instance of the doing ///, as we say, that good may come of it." 
—It jnaij happen that inebriation, by causing vomiting, may 
cleanse the stomach, &c. but it seems a very dangerous kind of 
dose, and of which the " repetaiur kaustus^^'' too quickly repeated, 
will evince, that men may pervert that, which nature intended for 
a cordial^ into the mo.st baneful of all ^owo/rx. It has been vulgarly 
called, " giving a fillip to nature." 

Dr Brown is of opinion, that the human faces described in ale- 
house signs, in coats of arms, &.c. for the sun and moon, are reliques 
of Paganism, and that these visages originally implied Apollo and 
Diana. 

The chequers, at this time, a common sign of a public house, 
was originally intended for a kind of draught-board, called tables, 
and showed that there that game might be played. From their co- 
lour, which was red, and their similarity to a lattice, it was cor- 
ruptly called the red lattice, which word is frequently used by the 
ancient writers to signify an ale-h^use. Vide Antiq. Repertor, 
Vol. I. p. 50. 



APPENDIX, 



341 



would pledge him, on which he answering that he 
would, held up his knife or sword, to guard him 
whilst he drank (for while a man is drinking he 
necessarily is in an unguarded posture, exposed to 
the treacherous stroke of some hidden or secret 
enemy.) 

This custom, as it is said, first took rise from the 
death of young king Edward, (called the martyr) 
son to Edgar, who was by the contrivance of Elfri- 
da, his step-mother, traiterously stabbed in the back 
as he was drinking. 

Mr Strutt's authority here is William of Malms- 
bury, and he observes from the delineation he 
gives, (and it must be observed that his plates^ be- 
ing copies from ancient illuminated manuscripts^ are 
of unquestionable authority) that it seems perfectly 
well to agree with the reported custom ; the mid- 
dle figure is addressing himself to his companion, 
who (seems to) tell him that he pledges him, hold- 
ing up his knife in token of his readiness to assist 
and protect him. Vol. 1st. p. 49. of Manners and 
Customs. Anglo. Sax. iEra. 

The ancient Greeks and Romans used at their 
meals to make libations^ pour out, and even drink 
wine in honour of the gods. — The classical writings 
abound with proofs of this. 

The Grecian poets and historians, as well as the 
Roman writers, have transmitted to us accounts 
also of the grateful custom of drinking to the health 
of our benefactors and of aur acquaintance. 

Pro te, fortissime, vota 

Publica suscipimus ; Bacchi tibi sumimus haustus, 

Z 3 The 



342 APPENDIX. 

The men of gallantry among the Romans used 
to take off as many glasses to their mistresses, as 
there were letters in the name of each, according 
to Martial * : 
Six cups to Noevia's health go quickly round, 
A fid be with seven the fair Tustma's crownM. 
Hence no doubt our custom of toasting, or drink- 
ing healths, a ceremony which Prynne in his 
" Healthes ; sicknesse'* mveighs against with all the 
madness of enthusiastic fury. 

This extraordmary man, who though he drank 
no healths, yet appears to have been intoxicated 
with liie fumes of a most fanatical spirit, and whom 
all Anticyira could not, it should seem, have redu- 
ced to a state of mental sobriett/, concludes his ad- 
dress to the Christian reader thus : *' The unfained 

" well-wisher 

* How exceedingly similar to our modem custom of saying to 
each of the company jn turriy " give us. a lady to toast," is the fol- 
lowing : 

L)a puere ab summo, age tu interibi ab infimo da Suavium. 

Plauti Asinaria. 
Our word tost^ or toast, signifying to name, or begin a new 
health, concerning the etymology of which all our dictionary wri- 
ters are silent, is a cant word. 1 find it in the canting vocabu/ary. 
"Who tosts now ? Who Christens the health ? An old tost^ a Jffrt, 
pleasant f old Je//ow.-^^Toss-pot, quaere from hence ? 

1 hnd the subsequent dissuasive from drunkenness, a vice to 
which it must be confessed the drinking of healths does but too na- 
turally tend, in Ch. Johnson's Wife^s Relief. 

Oh when we swallow down 

Intoxicating wine, we drink damnation j 
Naked we stand the sport of mocking friends, 
Who grin to sec our noble nature vanquished. 
Our passions then like swelling seas burst in, 
The monarch reason's governed by our blood, 
The noisy populace declare for liberty, 
While anarchy and riotous confusion 
Usurp the sovereign's throne, claim his prerogative, 
Till gentle sleep exhales the boiling surfeit. 



APPENDIX. 34.3 

^' well-wisher of thy spiritual 2ind corporal, though 
" the oppugner of thy pocidar and pot-emptying 
*' health:' William Prynne. 



(yALLHALLOW EvEN: 

Viiigo Halle E'en, as also Nut-crack Night. 

Da nuces pueris^ — — • 

Catullus* 

IN the ancient calendar of the church of Rome 
so often cited, I find the following observation 
on the 1st of November: * 

** The feast of old fools is removed to this day/^ 

Hallow Even is the vigil of All Saints' day. 

It is customary on this night with young people 
in the north to dive for apples, catch at them when 
stuck on at one end of a kind of hanging beam, at 
the other extremity of which is fixed a lighted can- 
dle, and that with their mouths only, having their 
hands tied behind their backs ; with many other 
fooleries. 

Nuts \ and apples chiefly compose the entertain- 
ment, and from the custom o^ Jlinging the former 

Z 4 ^ into 

* " Festum Stultonim vcterum hue translatum est." Perhaps it 
has been afterwards removed to the first of April. 

f In the marriage ceremonies amongst the ancient Romans, the 
bridegroom threw nuts about the room for the boys to scramble : 
The Epithalamiums in the classics prove this. They were supposed 
to do this in token of leaving childish diversions. " Quanquam 
Plinius, lib. 15. cap. 22. causas alias adfert, quam ob rem nuces iri 

nup- 






3*4 APPENDIX. 

into the^re, it has doubtless had its vulgar name 
of nutcrack-night. The catching at the a/yo/e and 
candle at least puts one in mind of the ancient Eng- 
lish game of the quintain, which is now almost for- 
gotten, and of which a description may be found 
in Stow's Survey of London. 

Mr Pennant tells us in his Tour in Scotland, 
that the young women there determine the figure 
and size of their husbands by drawing cabbages 
blindfold on All-hallow-Even, and like the Eng- 
lish ^ing nuts into the fire. 

This last custom is beautifully described by Gay 
in his Spelh 

Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame, 
And to each nut 1 gave a sweetheart's name : 
This with the loudest bounce me sore araaz'd, 
That in ^Jiame of brightest colour bla'Z*d* i 
As blazed the nut so may thy passion grow^ &c. 

The 



Xiuptiallbus cercmonils consueverlnt antiquitus adhiberi j sed pnes- 
tat ipslus referre verba ; AuceSy inquit, j'ug/undeSf quanquam et ipsae 
nuptiaiium Fcscenninorum comites, multum pineis minores univer- 
sitate, eaedenique portione ampliores nuclco. Nee non ct honor 
his naturae peculiaris, gemino protectis opcrimento, pulvinati pri- 
mum calycis, mo\ lignei putaminis. Qua: causa cas nuptiis fecit 
religlosas, tot modi's foetu munito : quod est verislmilius, &c. 

Vide ErilsIIiu^ on the Proverb : " Nuces relinqucre." 
The Roman boys had some sport or other with nuts, to which 
Horace refers In these words : 

Tf talos Aule nucesque. 

Nuts have not been excluded from the catalogue of superstitions 
under papal Rome. Thus on the 10th of August in the Romish 
ancient calendar, I find it observed that some religious use was made 
of them, and they were in great estimation. 
" Nuces in pretio et religiosce,'*'' 
• IVIr Gay describes some other rustic methods of divination on 
this head : Thus Wiih. peascods ; 

As peascods once I pluck'd, I chanc M to see 
One that was closely ^//V U'/M tftr^g times three ; 

WTiich 



l\ 



A P P E N P I X. 1545 

The Rev. Mr Shaw, in his History of the Pro- 
vince of Moray, seems to consider the festivity of 
this night as a kind oi harvest home rejoicing : " A 
*' solemnity was kept, says he, on the Eve of the 
*' first of November as a thanksgiving for the safe 
" ingathering of the produce of the fields. This 
" I am told, but have not seen it, is observed in 
*' Buchan, and other countries,^by having Hallow- 
** Eve-fires kindled on some rising ground." 

He tells us also in that little foretaste of his 
work, with which he favoured the public in an 
appendix to Mr Pennant's Tour, that " on Hal- 
*' low-even, they have several superstitious cus- 
*' toms." I wish he had given us particular de- 
scriptions of them, for general 2iCco\mt^ are exceed- 
ingly unsatisfactory. — Curiosity is indeed tantaliz* 
ed^ not relieved or gratified by them. 

Of 

Which when I cropt, I safely home convey'd, 

And o'er the door the spell in secret laid 5 

The latch mov'd up, when who should first come in, 

But in his proper person, Lubberkin. 

Thus also with the insect called ladyjiy : 

This lady fly I take from oflf the grass, 

Whose spotted back might scarlet red surpass. 

F/y, lady-bird^ north, south, or east, or west. 

Fly where the man is found that / love best. 
Thus also with apple-parings : 

I pare this pippin round and round again, 

My shepherd's name to flourish on the plain, 

I fling th' unbroken paring o'er my head, 

Upon the grass a perfect L is read. 
They made trial also of the fidelity of their swain* by sticking 
^n app/e kerne/ on each cheek ; thsA which fe//flrst indicated, that 
the love of him whose name it bore, was unsound. Snails, set to 
crawl on the hearth, were thought too to mark in the ashes the ini- 
(ImI of the lover'' s namt. 



346 APPENDIX, 



Of the meaning of the old saw ; 
<i Five score qfmeriy money y and pins, 
*« Sia: score of all other things J* 

IN this great northern emporium of commerce^ 
where the names of merchant and gentleman 
are synonymous terms, and which owes its pre- 
sent grandeur and opulence to the industry of 
men of that very respectable profession in ancient 
times; some of A\hom, from the smallest begin- 
nings *, advanced themselves, as well as the place 
of their residence, to an high degree of honour 
and wealth, the subsequent observations on what 

I 

* Thus Mr Boume in his History of Newcastle : 
" At the west-gate came Thornton in, 
" With a hap^ and a half-penny ^ and a lamb-skin. 

This old saying is very expressive of the poverty of this first 
founder of a very great name in the north. I cite it as an eulogium 
on honest industry. 

Merchants oftentimes contribute to the safety of a stale, they do 
at all times to its happiness. — Great Britain perhaps owts every- 
thing to commerce. — Our wise ancestors, sensible of this, made 
provision for encouraging the industry of the merchaiits, by advan- 
cing them to rank and dignity in the state. — Thus, in a vtr> old 
Saxon law, they take place of the scholar : 

jij: CCafj-ejie jt^eap ji pc pcjioe JjjiiISc ojrep pit) 6a: be pij* asenum 
cpaprc, pe pcEf Jjonne f ilS^an Dc5ne pijref pc»>pbe ; Ant> jij: ienjioefi 
je^eap J>upp lajxe jJ pe pat) pept)e -y J)eiiot)c Xpc, pe fxy J)ounc f ibttan 
mae'^j ^ numt>e j-pa micel, &c. — 1 hat b, 

" If a merchcnt so thrived that he passed thrice over the wido 
** sea of his own craft, he was thcncctorth equal in rank ^nth a 
** Thane. And if a scholar so thrived through learning, that he 
** had degree, and served Christ, he was thenct forth, of dignity and 
♦* peace so much worthy as thereto belonged, &c." — These laws are 
of remote antiquity, and do great honour to the good sense of our 
forefathers. 



APPENDIX. 347 

I shall call a mercantile antiquity^ will not, I flat- 
ter myself, be altogether uninteresting. 

Enquiring frequently both of books and men, why 
the hundixd should in some articles imply ^w, in 
others sia: score, I found at last, in the learned Dr 
Hicke's Thesaurus, an answer to a question which 
I had often asked before in vain. — I gather from 
him that the Norwegians and Islandic people us- 
ed a method of numbering peculiar to them- 
selves *, by the addition of the words tolfrcedr, 
tojfrced, or tolfrcBt, (whence our twelve) which 
made ten signify twelve ; a hundred, a hundred and 
twenty; a thousand, a thousand two hundred, 
&c. 

Of 



* Notetur etiam Norvegis & Islandis pecullarem numerandi ra- 
tionem in usu esse per additionem vocum tolfrcedr^ tolfned^ vel 
tolfrcet, quae decern significare faciunt duodecim j centum, centum 
et viginti.— Mille, Mille & 200, &c. 

Causa istius computationcs haec est, quod apud istas gentes duplex 
est decaSf nempe minor caeteris nationibus communis decern continens 
Unitates ; et major continens 12. i. e. Tb^ Unitates. 

Inde addita voce tolfrcedr^ vel tolfreed^ centuria non decies de- 
cern^ sed decies duodecim, i. e. 120. continet. — Haec tolfraedica, 
sive duodena computandi ratio per majores decades, quae duodecim 
unitates continent, apud nos etiamnum usurpatur in computandis 
certis rebus per duodenum numerum, quem dozen j Suecice dusin ; 
Gallice douzain, vocamus j quinimo in numeris, ponderibus et men- 
suris multarum rerum, ut ex mercatoribus et veheculariis accepi, 
centuria apud nos etiamnum semper praesumitur significare major em^ 
sive tolfrcedicam illam centuriam, quae ex decies 12 conflatur, 
scilicet 120. 

Sic Amgrim Jonas in Crymogaea, sive rerum Island, lib. 1. cap. 8. 
hundrad centum sonat, sed quadam consuetudine plus continet nem- 
pe 120, Inde etiamnum apud nos vetus istud de centenario nume- 

ro J FIVE SCORE OF MEN, MONEY, AND PINS : SiX SCORE OF ALL 

OTHER THINGS. P. 43. Gram. Isl. 



548 APPENDIX. 

Of which method of computation the following^ 
is the cause : The nations above named had two 
decads or tens ; a less^ which they used in common 
with other nations, consisting of ten units ; and a 
greater containing twelve (tolfj units. 

Hence, by the addition of the word tolfrcedr or 
tol/rcedy the hundred contained not fen times ten, 
but ten times tTvelve^ that is, a hundred and twenty. 

The doctor observes, that this tolfrcedic (for I am 
obliged to make a new word in translating him) 
mode of computation by the greater decads, or 
tens^ which contain twelve units, is still retained 
amongst us iu reckoning certain things by the 
number twelve^ which the Swedes call dusin^ the 
French douzain^ and we dozen, 

" And I am informed, he says, by merchants, 
&c. that in the number, weight, and measure of 
many things, the hundred among us, still consists 
of that greater tolfrcrdic bundled, which is com- 
posed often times twelve.'* 

Hence then without doubt is derived to us the 
present mode of reckoning many things by six 
score to the hundred. 



Oftlie True-love Knot. 

AK?ioi among the ancient northern nations, 
seems to have been the symbol of love, 
faith, and friendship, pointing out the indissoluble 
tie of affection and duty.— Thus the ancient 

nmic 



APPENDIX. 349 

runic inscriptions are in the form of a knot. See 
Hicke's Thesaurus *. 

Hence among the Northern English and Scots, 
who still retain in a great measure the language 
and manners of the ancient Danes, that curious 
kind of knot, a mutual present between the lover 
and his mistress, which being considered as the 
emblem of plighted fidelity, is t herefore called a 
TRUE LOVE KNOT. — The epithet is not derived, as 
one would naturally suppose it to be, from the 
words true and love^ but from the Danish verb 
trulofa t, fid em do, I plight my faith. 

It is undoubtedly from hence, that the bride-fa- 
vours^ or the top-knots at marriages, which were 
considered as emblems of the ties of duty and 
affection, between the bride and her spouse, have 
been derived. 

Mr 

* In his autem monumentis, ut et in id genus fere omnibus, in- W 

scriptionem Runae in no£^is sive Gyris nodorum insculptag leguntur, 
propterea quod apud Veteres Septentrionales gentes Nodus Amoris, 
Jidei^ Amicilice syfnbolum fuisse videtur, ut quod insolubilem pieia- iji 

lis et Affectus Nexum signiiicavit, Hinc apud boreales anglos, Sco- i' 

tosque, qui Danorum veterum turns ermonem, turn mores magna ex 
parte adhuc retinent, nodus in gyros curiose ductus, fidei & promis- 
sionis, quam amasius et amasia dare solent invicem, symbolum ser- 
vatur, quodque idee vocant A TRUE-LOVE KNOT — a veteri danico 

trulofa, fidem do j Hinc etiam Apud anglos Scotosque consuetu- ^! 

do report end i capitalia, Donata curiose in gyros, nodosqiie tort a a f | 

solennibus nuptiis plane quasi symbola insoluhilis fidei et cjfectus, \ ' 

quae Sponsum inter et Sponsam esse debent. 

Hickesii Thesaur. Gram Island, p. 4, 

f Thus also in the Islandic Gospels — In Matthew, chap. 1st, is the' 
following pa.%age, which confirms beyond the possibility of a doubt 
the sense here given, " til cinrar Meyar er Trulofad var einum 
" Manne, &:c." i. e. To a virgin espoused, that is, who was pro- 
mised, or had engaged herself to a man, &c. 



350 APPENDIX. 

Mr Gay, in his pastoral entitled the spell, thus 
beautifully describes the rustic manner of knitti ng 
this true-love knot : 

As Lubberkin once slept beneath a tree, 
I twiched his dangling garter from his knee : 
He wist not when ihu hempen string I drew j 
Now mine I quickly doff of inkle blue : 
Together fast I tie the garters twain, 
And while I knit the knot, repeat this strain. 
Three times a true-love's knot I tie 3ecure j 
Firm be the knot, firm may his love endure. 



Of the custom of Blessing Persons xvfien they 

SNEEZE. 

THE very learned author of the Vulgar Er- 
rors, has left us a great deal on this subject. 
— It is generally believed that the custom of sa* 
luting or blessing upon that motion, derives its 
origin from a disease, wherein such as sneezed 
died. — Carolus SIgonius, in his History of Italy, 
mentions a pestilence in the time of Gregory the 
Great, that proved mortal to such as sneezed. 

Tlie custom has an elder aera : Apuleius men- 
tions it 300 years before. — Pliny * also in the 
problem, " Cur sternutantes salutantur." Petro- 
nius Arbiter t too describes it. — Calius Rhodigi- 

nus 

* It is said, that Tiberius the emperor, otherv^-ise a very sour 
man, would perform this rite most pmictually to others, and expect 
the same from others to himself. 

f Petronius Arbiter, who lived before them both, has thes6 
words : Gyton coUectione spiritus plenus, ter continuo ita stcmuta- 
vit ut grabatum concuteret, ad quem motum Eumolpus conversus, 
Saiixere Gytona jubet. 



APPENDIX. ssi 

iius has an example of it among the Greeks, in 
the time of Ci/rus the younger *. In the Greek 
Anthology t it is alluded to in an epigram. — It 
is received at this day in the remotest parts of 
Africa t 

The history of it will run much higher, if we 
take in the rabbinical account ||. 

Dr Browne himself supposes that on the ground 
of this ancient custom was the opinion the an- 
cients held of sternutation, which they generally 
conceived to be a good sign or a bad^ and so upon 
this motion accordingly used a salve or Zeu tujov as 
a gratulation for the one, and a deprecation from 
the other. 

He then gives their phi/skal § notions of it. — 
Hippocrates says, that sneezing cures the hiccup, 
is profitable to parturient women, in lethargies, 

apo- 

* When consulting about their retreat, it chanced that one of 
them sneezed, at the noise whereof the rest of the soldiers called 
upon Jupiter Soter, 

f Non potis est Proclus digitis emungere nasum, 
Numque est pro Nasi mole pusilla manus : 
Non vocat ille Jovem sternutans, quippe nee audit 
Stemutamentum, tarn procul aure sonat. 
J So we read in Codignus, that upon a sneeze of the Emperor of 
Monomotapha, there passed acclamations successively through the 
city. — And as remarkable an example there is of the same custom 
in the remotest parts of the east, in the Travels of Pinto. 

II " That sneezing was a mortal sign even from the first man 'y 
*^ until it was taken oiF by the special supplication of Jacob. From 
** whence as a thankful acknowledgment, this salutation first began, 
** and was after continued by the expression of Tohim Chaizm, or 
** vita bona, by standers by, upon all occasions of sneezing.'''* 

Buxtorf. Lex. Chald. 
§ Snee%ing being properly a motion of the brain suddenly expel- 
ling through the nostrils what is oflFensive to it, it cannot but afford 
some evidence of its vigour, and therefcre, saith Aristotle, they that 

hear 



352 APPENDIX. 

apoplexies, catalepsies, and coma's : It is bad and 
pernicious in diseases of the chest, in the begin- 
ning of catarrhs, in new and tender conceptions, 
for then it endangers abortion. 

To these succeed their superstitious and augwial 
ones. St Austin tells us, that the ancients were 
wont to go to bed again if they sneezed vthilQ they 
put on their shoe. Aristotle lias a problem ^ " why 
sneezing from noon to midnight was good, but 
from night to noon unlucky,'* Eustathius upon 
Homer observes, that sneezing to the left was un- 
lucky, but prosperous to the right. See Plutarch 
in the Life of Themistocles *. 

I shall give the whole of his conclusion : " Thus 
we may perceive the custom to be more ancient 
than is commonly thought : — and these opinions 
hereof in all ages, not any one disease to have 
been the occasion of this salute and deprecation : 
arising at first from this vehement and affrighting 
motion of the brain, from whence some finding 
dependant effects to ensue : Others ascribing 
hereto as a cause, what perhaps but casually or 
i?icon?w.vedly succeeded ; they might proceed into 
forms of speeches, felicitating the good and depre^ 
eating the evil to follow.''* 

Of 

hear it " v^^rxv^i^va-if is ii{«f.'' honour it as something sacred, and 
a sign of sanity in the diviner part ; and this he illustrates from th© 
practice of physicians, who in persons near death use sternutatories^ 
(medicines to provoke snee-aing) when if the faculty arise, and ster- 
nutation ensues, they conceive hopes of life, and wit A gratulation re- 
ceive the signs of safety." 

* When Themistocles sacrificed in his galley before the battle of 
Xerxes, and one of the assistants upon the right hand snee-Tsed j Eu- 
phrantides, the southsayer, presaged the victory of the Greeks, and 
the overthrow of the Persians, 



APPENDIX. sss 

Of Royal-Oak Day. 

ON the 29th of May *, the anniversary of the 
restoration of Charles the second, it is still 
customary in the north for the common people 
to wear in their hats the leaves of the oak, which 
are sometimes covered on the occasion with leaf- 
gold. 

This is done, as every body knowSj in comme- 
moration of the marvellous escape of that Mon- 
arch from his pursuers, who passed under the very 
oak-tree, in which he had secreted himself. This 
happened after the battle of Worcester. Vide 
Boscobello. 

A a The 

* May the 29tii, says the author of the Festa Atiglo-Romana, Lon- 
don, 1678, is celebrated upon a double account, first in commemo- 
ration of the birth of our Sovereign King Charles the Second, the 
princely son of his royal father Charles the First, of happy memory, 
and Mary the daughter of Henry the 4th, king of France, who was 
born the 29th of May, Anno. 1630. And also by an act of parlia- 
ment 12 Car. 2. by the passionate desires of the people, in memory 
of his most happy restoration to his crown and dignity, after 12 
years forced exile from his undoubted right, the crown of England, 
by barbarous rebels and regicides j and on the 8th of this month 
his majesty was, with universal joy, and great acclamations proclaim- 
ed in London and Westminster, and after throughout all his domi- 
nions ; the 16th he came to the Hague j the 23d with his two bro- 
thers he embarked for England •, and on the 25th he happily land- 
ed at Dover, being received by general Monk, and some of the 
army : From whence he was, by several voluntary troops of the no- 
bility and gentry, waited upon to Canterbury j and on the 29th, 
1660, he made his magnificent entrance into that emporium of Eu- 
rope, his stately and rich metropolis, the renowned city of London. 
On this very day also. Anno. 1662, the king came to Hampton 
Court with his queen Catharine, after his marriage at Portsmouth : 
This, as it is his birth-day, is one of his collar-days without ©ifering. 
P. 66. 



M 



554 APPENDIX. 

The boys here had formerly a taunting rhhnc 
on the occasion : 

Royal oak. 

The lahigs to provoke. 

There is a retort courteous by others, who con- 
teinptuously wore plane4ree leaves, of tlie same 
homely sort of stuff: 

Plane-tree leaves. 

The church folk are thieves. 

Puerile and low as these sarcasms may appear, 
yet they breathe strongly that partij-spirit^ which 
it is tlie duty of every good citizen and real lover 
of his country to endeavour to suppress. 

Well has party been called " the madness of 
many for the gain of a few." It is a kind of 
epidemic fever, that in its boiling fury stirs up 
from the bottom every thing gross, filthy, and 
impure in human society : Often has it raged with 
prodigious virulence in this island, and yet our 
strong constilutkm has always hitherto had the hap- 
piness of being able to throxc it off. 

With tears of philanthropy we have viewed the 
rapidity of its late devastations: and lamented the 
progress of a contagion fatal, it should seem, almost 
beyond the example of any in former times ! 

May it subside at the present crisis, which is 
truly alarming, and that too (if it be jmssibk by ani/ 
other ?neans to recover a bodjj politic, in which 
health for xi'ant of change, seems to have produced 
disease J not by loss of blood, but by insensible per- 
spirafio7i. 

oj 



m 



APPENDIX, 



$5^ 



Of Martinmas. * 

FORMERLY a custom prevailed everywhere, 
though generally confined at present to coun- 
try villages, of killing cows, oxen, swine, kc. at 
this season, which were cured for the winter, when 
fresh provisions were seldom or never to be had. 

Two or more of the poorer sort of rustic families 
still join in purchasing a cow, &c. for slaughter 
at this time, (called in Northumberland a mart\) 
the entrails of which, after having been filled with 
a kind of pudding-meat, consisting of blood, suet> 
groats, t &c. are formed into little sausage links, 
boiled, and sent about as presents, &c. From 
their appearance, they are called black puddings. 

The author of the Convivial ll Antiquities tells 
us, that in Germany, there was in his time a kind 

A a 2 of 

*In the ancient calendar of the Church of Rome so often quo- 
ted, I find the subsequent observations on 1 1th November. ** The 
\ ** Martinalia^ a genial feast." ** Wines are tasted of, and drawn 
** from the lees." " The Vinaiia, a feast of the ancients removed 
** to this day." " Bacchus in the figure of Martiny Pvlartinalia, 
Geniale Festum. Vina delibantur & defecantur. Vinalia veterum 
festum hue translatum. Bacchus in Martini Figura. 

f Mart, says Skinner, is a fair : I think it, he adds, a contraction 
of market. These cattle are usually bought at a kind of cow-fair, 
or mart at this time. Had it not been a general name for a fair, 
one might have been tempted to suppose it a contraction of Martin^ 
the name of the saint of the time. 

X Groats, oats huU'd, but unground. Glossary of Lancashire 
Words. This word is derived from the Anglo. Saxon Gjiur, Far. 

II Hujusmodi porro conviviis in ovium tonsura apud Hebreos an- 
tiquitus celebrari solitis videntur similia esse ilia quae apud nos cum 

illr 



SS6 APPENDIX 

of entertainment on the above occasion, vulgarly 
called the " feast of sausages, or gut-puddings," 
which was wont to be celebrated with great joy 
and festivity. 

J. Boemus Aubanus * too tells us, that in Fran- 
conia, there was a great deal of eating and drink- 
ing at this season ; no one was so poor or niggardly 
that on thejeast of St Martin had not his dish of 
the entrails either of oxen, suine, or calves. They 
drank too, he says, very liberally of "ivine on the 
occasion. 

The learned Moresin t refers the great doings 
on this occasion, which he says were common to 
almost all Europe in his time, to an ancient Athe- 
nian festival, observed in honour of Bacchus, up- 
on the eleventh, twelftli, and thirteenth days of the 
month Anthesterion, corresponding with our No- 
vember, 

J. Boemus Aubanus, above cited, seems to con- 
firm this conjecture, tliough there is no mention 
of the slaughter of any animal in the description 
of the rites of the Grecian festival. The eleventh 
day of that month had a name from the cere- 
mony of " tapping their barrels on it ;" it was 

called 

in urbe, turn in pagis post pecorum quorundain, ut ovium, bounty at 
jnesertim suum mactationem sumnia cum la?titia agitari iolcnt. 
'* Farciminum Convivia" vulgo appellantur. P. 62. 

* Nemo per totam regionem tanta paupertate premitur, nemo tan- 
ta tenacitate tcneter qui in Fes to Sancti Martini non ahiti aliquo, 
vol saltern suillo^ vitu/inove viscert assato vescatur, qui vino non 
remissius indulgeat. P. 272. 

f Ui^^iym mense Novcmbri cclebrabantur apud Athenlen5es. 
Plutarch, in 8. Sympos. 10. Sicuti nostris ttmporibus in omni fere. 
Europa undecima Novemhris qua; D. IMartino dicata est. Mcrcur. 
Variar. lect. lib. 1. cap. 15. Deprav. Rcl. Grig. &c. p. 1£T. 



APPENDIX. 357 

called also by the Chaeroneans the day of good 
genius^ because it was customary to make merry 
iipon it. See Potter's Grecian Antiquities. 



Of Fairs. 

Expositas, kite Cami prope Flumina merces^ 
Divitiasque loci^ vicosque, hominumque labores^ 
Sparsaque per virides passim megalia campos.-^ 

Nundinal Sturbrigienses. 

A Fair is a greater kind of market, granted to 
any town by privilege, for the more speedy 
and commodious providing of such things as the 
place stands in need of. They are generally kept 
once or twice in a year. Proclamation is to be 
made how long they are to continue, and no per- 
son shall sell any goods after the time of the fair 
is ended, on forfeiture of double the value. — A 
toll is usually paid at fairs. 

In the first volume of the ingenious Mr Whar* 
ton's Hist, of Poetry, p. 279. there is a note 
which contains a great deal of learning on this 
subject ; the subsequent extracts will requite the 
pains of perusal, and throw no small light upon 
this ancient kind of mart. 

" Before flourishing towns, he tells us, were es- 
tablished, and the necessaries or ornaments of 
life, from the convenience of communication, and 
the increase of provincial civility, could be pro- 
cured in various places, goods and commodities 

A a 3 of 



358 APPENDIX. 

of every kind were chiefly sold at fairs * : To 
these, as to one universal mart, the people resort- 
ed periodically, and supplied most of their wants 
for the ensuing year. 

The display of merchandize, and the conflux 
of customers, at these principal, and almost only 
emporia of domestic commerce, were prodigious ; 
and tliey were therefore often held on open and 
extensive plains. (Thus at Newcastle on our 
Town Moor, the CoivJiill.) 

One of the chief of them was tliat of St Giles's 
Hill, or Down, near Winciiester : The Conqueror 
instituted and gave it as a kind of revenue to 
the bishop of Winchester. It was at first for 
three days, but afterwards, by Henry HI. pro- 
longed to sixteen days — Its jurisdiction extended 
seven miles round, and comprehended even South- 
ampton, then a capital and trading town. Mer- 
chants 



* Here {^dlar's stalls with glitt'ring toys are laid, 
The various fairings of the country maid. 
Long silken laces hang upon the twine, 
And rows of pins and amber bracelets shine. 
Here the tight lass, knives, combs, and scissars spies, 
And /ook's on thimbks with desiring eyes. 
The mountebank now treads the stage, and sellt 
His pills, his balsams, and his ague-spells : 
Now o'er and o'er the nimble tuuibkr springs j 
And on the rope the vent'rous maiden swings j 
Jack Pudding in his party coloured jacket. 
Tosses tlic glove, and jokes at cv'ry packet ; 
Here raree shows are seen, and Fur^che's feats. 
And pockets pickM in crowds and various cheats. 

Gay. 

The ancient northern nations held annual Ice Fairs : See Olaui 
Magnus. 

Wv also have heard of a /air upon the Thames in a \-ery hard 
frost. • 



APPENDIX. 359 

chants who sold wares at that time within that 
circuit, forfeited them to the bishop. Officers 
were placed at a considerable distance, at brid- 
ges *y and other avenues of access to the fair, to 
exact toll of all merchandize passing that way : 
In the mean while all shops in the city of Win- 
chester were shut. A court called the Pavilion, 
composed of the bishop's justiciaries and other 
officers had power to try causes of various sorts 
for seven miles round. The bishop had a toll of 
every load or parcel of goods passing through the 
gates of the city. On St Giles's Eve, the mayor, 
&c. delivered up the keys of the four gates to the 
bishop's officers. Many and extraordinary were 
the privileges granted to the bishop on this occa- 
sion, all tending to obstruct trade and oppress the 
people. 

Numerous foreign merchants t frequented this 
fair ; several streets were formed in it, assigned 
to the sale of different commodities t. The sur- 
rounding monasteries had shops or houses in 
these streets, used only at the fair ; they held 
them under the bishop, and they often were let 
by lease for a term of years. 

§ Different counties had their different stations. 
A a4 It 

* Thus at present at Newcastle : At our gates also, 

f It appears that the justiciaries of the Pavilion, and the trea- 
surers of the bishop's palace received annually for a fee, according 
to ancient custom, four basons and ewers of those foreign merchants 
who sold brazen vessels in the fair, and Avere called mercatores 
diauntercs. Ibid. 

X Called the drapery^ the pottenj, the spicery^ &c. Thus wfJ 
say now the Cloth Fair, the Shoe Fair, &c. 

\ In the revenue roll of Bishop William ofWaynflete, (an. 1471) 
this fair appears to have greatly decayed j in Avhich among other 



560 APPENDIX. 

It appears from a curious record now remain- 
ing, containing the establishment and expences 
of the household of Henry Percy, the 5th Earl of 
Northumberland, A. D. 1512. and printed by Dr 
Percy, that the stores of his lordship's house at 
Wresille, for the whole year, were laid in from 
Fairs : " He that stands charged with my lordes 
" house for the houll yeir, if he maye possible, 
" shall be at all faires, where the groice emp- 
^^ tions shall be boughte for the house for the 
** houll yeir, as wine, wax, beifFes, multons, wheite 
" and malt *.' P. 407. 

In t the account of the priories of Maxtoke, in 
Warwickshire, and of Bicester, in Oxfordsliire, in 
the time of Henry VI. the monks appear to have 
laid in yearly stores, of various, yet common ne- 
cessaries at the Fair of Sturbridge, Cambridge- 
shire, at least 100 miles distant from either mo- 
nastry. 

It may seem surprising that their own neigh- 
bourhood, including the cities of Oxford and 
Coventry, could not supply them with commo- 
dities 

proofs, I find mention made of a district in the fair being unoccu- 
pied. " \Jb\ homines cornubiae stare solebant." 

The whole reception to the bishop this year was 451. ISs. 5d. 
more than 400l. at this day. Ibid. 

* This proves that fairs still continued to be the principal marts 
for purchasing necessaries in large quantities, which now are sup- 
plied by frequent trading towns : And the mention of beiffes and 
multons^ (wliich are saltt d oxen and sheep) shews, that at so late 
a period they knew little of breeding cattle. Their ignorance in so 
important an article of hu.sbandry, is aho an evidence, that in the 
reign of King Henry VIII. the state of population was much lower 
among us than we may imagine. Ibid. 

f In the Statutes of St Mary Ottery's College, in Devonshire, 
given by bishop Grandison, the founder, the sacrists and stewards 
are ordered to purchase annually two hundred pounds of wax for 
The choir of the college at Winchester Fair. Ibid. 



APPENDIX. 361 

dities neither rare nor costly, which they thus 
fetched at a considerable expence of carriage. — 
There is a rubric in some of the monastic rules 
" de euntibus ad Nundinas/* L e concerning 
those who go to fairs." 

Our two annual fairs on the Town Moor, New- 
castle, are called Lammas and St Luke's fairs, 
from the days on which they begin. Mr Bourne 
tells us, that the tolls, booths, stallage, pickage 
and courts of pie powder, (dusty foot) to each of 
these fairs, were reckoned commimibus Annis 12l. 
in Oliver's time. The records of our monaste- 
ries are lost, otherwise they would doubtless have 
furnished some particulars relative to the institu- 
tion and ancient customs of the fairs at Newcas- 
tle, 

Mr Bailey tells us, that in ancient times a- 
mongst Christians, upon any extraordinary so- 
lemnity, particularly the anniversary dedication 
of a church *, tradesmen used to bring and sell 
their wares, even in the church-yards, especially 
upon the festival of the dedication ; as at West- 
minster, on St Peter's day ; at London, on St Bar- 
tholomew ; at Durham, on St Cuthbert's day, &c. 
But riots and disturbances often happening, by 
reason of the numbers assembled together, privile- 
ges were by royal charter granted for various 
causes to particular places, towns, and places of 
strength, where magistrates presided to keep the 
people in order. Courts were granted to take 
notice of all manner of causes and disorders com- 
mitted 

* Festum, Nundince quae in festis Patronorum vulgo fiunt. Du 
Cange. Gloss. 

Pitching pence was paid (in fairs and markets) for every bag 
©f com, &c. Cole's Diet. 



362 APPENDIX. 

mitted upon the place called Pie-powder *, be- 
cause justice was done to any injured person be- 
fore the dust of the fair was off his feet It is 
customary at all fairs to present fairings^ which 
are gifts, bought at these annual markets. 

Ray has preserved two old English proverbs 
that relate to Fairs : 

" Men speak of the fair as things went with 

them there." 

As also, 

" To come a day after the fair i.*' 

* Poudre des plez, French.— Z)ttj"/ of the feet ^ 

\ Kennet, in liis Glossary to !iis parochial Antiquities, tells as, 

that from the solemn feasting at wakes and fairs^ came the word 
fare, provision, ^ood fare, iofare well. In vcrbo. Ferise. 

N. B. Sec also the Observations on Mr Bourne's Chapter on 

Wakes, 



Of the Customs in Schools on St Nicholas' Day. 

JBoemus Aubanus * in his description of some 
. singular customs used in his time in Franco- 
nia, to which I have so often reterrcd, tells us, that 
scholars on St Nicholas Day used to elect three out 

of 

* In die vero Sancti NIcolui, Adolc5cente<;, qui disciplinarum 
gratia Scholas frequentant, inter sc trc'' f']i::!ir:T : unum, nui Eris- 
copum : duos qui diaconos aidant : is iu?"; 'i- 

niter a Scholastic© coetu intrtxiuctus, div: -i- 

det : Q^uibus fmitis, cum clectis domesticatna cantando n.;»T.mas 
coUigit, elcemosynam esse negant, sed Episcopi subsidium. Vigi- 
liam diei pueri a parentibus jejunare eo mtxlo invitantur, quod per- 
suasum habeant, ca munuscula, qua; noctu ipsis in calceos sub men- 
sam ad hoc locatos imponuntur, se a largissirao prresule Nicolao per- 
cipere : unde tanto deslderio plcrique jejunant, ut quia eorum sani- 
tati timeatur, ad cibum compellcndi sint. P. ilTi. 



APPENDIX. S6S 

of their number, 07ie of whom was to play the bi- 
shop, the others to act the parts of deacons, -^The 
bishop was escorted by the rest of the boys in so- 
lemn procession to church, where, with his mitre 
on, he presided during the time of divine wor- 
ship : This being ended, he, with his deacons, 
went about singing from door to door, and col- 
lected money, which they did not beg as alms, 
but demanded as the bishop's subsidy. The boys 
were prevailed upon to fast on the eve of this 
day, in order to persuade themselves that the 
little presents, which on that night were put for 
them into shoes *, (placed under the table for 
that purpose,) were made them by their very 
bountiful prelate Nicholas. — On which account 
many of them kept the fast so rigorously, that 
their friends were under the necessity of forcing 
them to take some sustenance, in order to pre- 
vent them from injuring their health. 

The ancient callendar of the church of Rome t, 
has the following observations on this day, which 
is the 6th of December. 

Decern - 

* There is a festival or ceremony observed in Italy, (called Zo- 
jpata, from a Spanish word signifying a shoe) in the courts of cer- 
tain princes on St Nicholas's day, wherein persons hide presents in 
the shoes and slippers of those they do honour to, in such manner as 
may surprise them on the morrow when they come to dress. ^ This 
is done in imitation of the practice of St Nicholas, who used in the 
night time to throw purses in at the windows of poor maids, to be 
marriage portions for them. Vide Bailey. 

f December. 
6. Nicolao Episcopo. 
Scholarum feriae. 

Rcges ad sedem muneribus & pompa accedunt. 
Poetarum mos olim in schola ad pueros relatus. 
Regales in scholis Epulse. 



564 APPENDIX. 

December, ^ 

6. " Nicholas, bishop. 
School holidays. 
The kings go to church 
With presents and great shew. 
The ancient custom of poets in school 
Related to the boys. 
The king' s feasts in schook." 

Vestiges of these ancient Popish superstitions 
are still retained in several schools about this time 
of the year, particularly in the grammar school at 
Durham *. They ask, and forcibly ol)tain from 
the master, what they call orders. — I have heard 
also of a similar custom at the school of Hough- 
ton-le-Spring, in the county of Durham. 

* At Salt-kill^ near Windsor, the Eton boys have an annual cui- 
tom (in June) oi giving salt and extorting moaey from every one 
that passes by. — The captain, for so they stile their leader, is said 
to raise, some years, 300 pounds on this occasion, all which he claim* 
as liis own : They stop even the stage coaches. — There is generally 
a great concourse of the nobility, gentry, &c. at Salt-hill on th« 
day. 

This seems to be a fragment, but greaUy mutilated, of the a- 
bove described ancient customs in schooK on St Nicholas' day. 

I received this information at the JVinJ Mi//^ one of the very c- 
legant it ns at Salt-Hill ; and, if I mistake not, the bedchamLer in 
which I slept, had a Latin title (Montem) above the chimney- 
piece, that referred to the LittU-hUl^ the scene of this singular cus- 
tom. 



Of the GuLE q/" August, cainmonly called 
Lammas-Day. 

" T Ammas-Day, says Blount, the first of Au- 
JLj gust, otherwise called the Guky or Yule of 
August, which maybe a corruption of the British 
word GWYL AWST, signifying the least of August, 

or 



APPENDIX. $6S 

or may come from vincula (chains), that day being 
called in Latin, Festum Sancti Petri ad Vincula." 
The last opinion seems a wild and vague conjec- 
ture. How much more probable is the hypothe- 
sis of learned Gebelin^ which the reader will find, 
both in the original French, and translated into 
English, if he will be at the trouble of turning 
back to page 171. 

Antiquaries are divided also in their opinions 
concerning the origin of the word Lam, or Lamb- 
mass. 

Some suppose it was called Lammas-day*, quasi 
Lamb-Masse, because on that day the tenants that 
held lands of the cathedral church in York, (which 
is dedicated to St Peter ad Vincula t) were bound 
by their tenure to bring a live lamb into the church 
at high mass on that day. 

Others suppose it to be derived from the Sax- 
on Hiap Msrye ^' ^' ^^af massc, or bread masse, so 
named as a feast of thanksgiving to God for the 
first fruits of the corn, and seems to have been 
observed with bread of new wheat ; and according- 
ly it is a usage in some places for tenants to be 
bound to bring in wheat of that year to their 
lord, on or before the first of August. Ham. Re- 
sol, to 6 Queres, p. 465. Vide Blount. 

Of 



* We have an old proverb " At latter Lammas," which is syno- 
nymous with the " Ad Graecas Calendas" of the Latins, and the 
vulgar saying, " When two Sundays come together," /. e. never. 

f In the ancient calendar of the Romish church, I find the subse- 
quent observation on the 1st of August : 

" Chains are worshipped, &c. 
" Catenae coluntur ad Aram in Exquiliis 
Ad vicum Cyprium juxta titi thermas." 



taee APPENDIX. 



Of the vulgar Sayings " Under the Rose." 

DOcTOR Browne leaves me little more on 
this subject, than the easy and agreeable 
task of making him speak concisely and in jplain 
English, 

Nazianzen, says he, seems to imply in the sub- 
f5eqiient translated verses, tliat the rose^ from a na- 
tural 'property^ ha s been made the symbol of silence. 

Utque latct rosa verna suo putamine clausa. 
Sic OS vincla ferat, validisquc arctctur habenls, 
Indicatque suis prolixa silentia labris. 

Hence it should seem when we desire to confine 
our words^ we commonly say, " they are spoken 
under the rose." 

There is a propriety in this expression also, if 
we mean only in society at convivial entertain- 
ments, where it was an ancient custom to wear 
chaplcts of roses about the head. 

The Germans have a custom of describing a 
rose in the ceihng over the table *. 

Lemnius and others have traced it to another 
origin: The 7'ose, say they, was the flower of 

Venus, 

* I shall favour my reader here with another curious observatioa 
of the learned author of the Vulgar Errors : Cora/ vtas thought to 
preserve and fasten tlie teeth in men, yet is used'in children to make 
an easier passage for them ; hence that well known toy, with bells, 
&c. and coral ^i the end, which is gcTv ' ' n their 

necks. This custom is suppo5*ed, with t ility, to 

have had its origin in an ancient su|>erstitioii, whitii conriJcred it 
as an amulet^ or defcnsativc against fascination. — For thi- we have 
the authority of Pliny, in the following words : ** Aruspices reiigi- 
" osum coraili gestaf.ien amoliendis pcricuils arbitrantur j Et surcu^ 
" li infantUv alligati tutelam habere creduiitur." 



APPENDIX. 367 

Venus, which Cupid consecrated to Harpocrates, 
the God of silence, &c. it was therefore an em- 
blem of it to conceal the pranks of venery : thus 
the poet : 

" Ut Rosa flos Veneris, cujus quo facta laterent 
Harpocrati Matris, dona dicavit Amor -, 
Indc Rosam mensis Hospes suspendit amfcis, 
Conviviae ut sub ea i/icia tacenda sciant." 



Of the Silly How, that is, the holy^ or fortunate 
Cap or Hood. 

VARIOUS were the superstitions, about half 
a century * ago, concerning a certain mem- 
branous covering, commonly called the silly how, 

that 

* In Scotland, says the learned and modest Author of the glos- 
sary to Douglas' Virgil, the women call a haiy^ or se/y how, {i. e» 
holy or fortunate cap, or hood) a film, or membrane stretched 
over the heads of children new born j which is nothing else but a 
part of that which covers the foetus in the womb j and they give 
•out that children so born will be very fortunate. In Verbo How. 

An instance of great fortune in one born with this coif is given 
by i^lius Lampridius, in the History of Diadumenos, who came af- 
terwards to the sovereign dignity of the empire. Thus supersti- 
tion prevailed much in the primitive ages of the church. St Chry- 
sostom in several of his Homilies inveighs against it : He is parti- 
cularly severe against one Prastus, a clergyman, who being desir- 
ous of being fortunate, bought such a cof of a midwife. See 
Athenian Oracle. 

It would be giving the reins up to fancy altogether to suppose 
that the present remarkable black spots in the wigs of those of the 
highest orders of the law, owe their origin to this ancient supersti- 
tion ; but I have no kind of doubt but that the word Howdy, used 
in the north for a Midwife, and which I take to be a diminitive of 
How, is derived from this obsolete opinion of old women. An e- 

tymon 



368 



APPENDIX, 



that was sometimes found about the heads of 
new born infants. — It was preserved with great 
care, not only as medical in diseases, but also as 
contributing to the good fortune of the infant 
and others. — This, says Dr Browne, is no more 
than the continuation of a superstition that is of 
very remote antiquity. Thus we read in the 
Life of Antoninus, by Snartianus, that children 
are sometimes born with this natural cap^ which 
midwives were wont to sell to credulous lawyers, 
who held an opinion that it contributed to their 
promotion *. 

tymon I have ^eard of Howdy, that is, ** How do ye," is not un- 
like the " All eggs under" of Swift, and forcibly satirizes that 
licentiousness of fancy in ^vhich many philologists have indul- 
ged themselves. 

* " But to speak strictly, continues our author, the effect is na- 
tural, and thus to be conceived •, the infant hath three teguments, or 
membranous filnies which cover it in the womb, i. e. the corton, 
amnios and allantoii ; the corion is the outward membrane, 
■wherein are implanted the veins, arteries, and umbilical vessels, 
whereby its nourislimcnt is conveyed : The allantois a thin coat 
seated under the corion, wherein are received the watery separa^ 
tions conveyed by the urachus, that the acrimony thereof should 
not offend the skin. The amnios is a general invotment, contain- 
ing the sudorous, or thin serosity perspirable through the skin. 
Now about the time when the infant breaketh these coverings, it 
sometimes carrietli with it about the head a f>art of the amnios, 
or nearest coat •, which, saith S{>ic-gelius, either proccedeth from the 
toughness of the membrane, or weakness of the infant, that can- 
not get clear thereof \ and therefore herein significations are natural 
and concluding upon the infant, but not to be extended unto ma- 
gical signalities or any other person." 



Of 



APPENDIX. S69 

OftJie Phenomenon *, vulgarly calledWiLL, or Kitty 
witk the Wisp t, or Jack with a Lanthorn. 

Hffw Will a Wisp misleads nightfaring chwns^ 
OW hills ^ and sinking bogs^ and pathless domis. 

Gay. 

THIS appearance^ called in Latirij ignis fatuus, 
has long been an article in the catalogue of 
popular superstitions. It is said to be chiefly seen 
in summer nights, frequenting meadows, marshes^ 
and other moist places. — It has been thought by 
some to arise from a viscous exhalation, which 
being kindled in the air, reflects a sort of thin flame 

in 

* Blount tells us It is a certain viscous substance, reflecting light 
In the dark, evaporated out of a fat earth, and flying in the air. It 
commonly haunts church-yards,^rivies, and fens, because it is begot- 
ten out of fatness j it flies about rivers, hedges, &c. because in 
those places there is a certain flux of air : It follows one that follows 
it, because the air does so. 

It is called ignis fatuus, oit foolish fire ^ because it orAjfeHreth fools. 
Hence is it when men are led away with some idle fancy or con- 
ceit, we use to say an ignis fatuus hath done it. Blount in verbo. 

f IVisp properly signifies a little twist of straw ^ for the purpose of 
easing the head under the pressure of some heavy burden. (It is 
corrupted into weexe in the vulgar dialect of Newcastle) as also a 
handful of straw, folded up a little to wipe any thing with. Thus 
in that very curious and scarce poem, the Visions of Pierce Plowman ; 

" And wished it had been wiped with a wisp oi firses,'''* Pass. 

It implies in the name of this phenomenon a kind of straw-torch. 
Thus Junius in verbo : " Frisiis wispien etiamnum est ariientes stra , 
" minis fasciculos in altum tollere." 

These vulgar names are undoubtedly derived from its appearance, 
as if Will^ Jack^ or Kit, some country fellows, were going about with 
lighted straw-torches, in their hands. 

Bh 



':i¥ 






570 APPENDIX. 

in the dark without any sensible heat. It is often 
found flying along rivers and hedges^ because, as 
it is conjectured, it meets there with a stream of 
air to direct it. 

Philosophers are much divided in their solution 
of this phenomenon. Sir Isaac Newton says it is 
a vapour shining without heat, and that there is 
the same difference between this vapour and flame, 
as between rotten wood shining without heat and 
burning coals of fire. 

Others suppose it to be some 7iocfuniaIfyi?ig in- 
sect : Indeed they have gone so many difl'crent 
ways in pursuit of this wanderer, tliat, according 
to the popular notion of its conducting into bogs 
and other precipices, some of them must have been 
misled and bewildered by it. — M'c may follow 
them liowever as far as we please in this paper- 
pursuit without any danger. 

Meriana has given us an account of the famous 
Indian lanthorn fly, published amongst her insects 
at Suiinam, It has a liood, or bladder on its head, 
w^hich gives a light like a lanthorn in the night, 
but by day-light is clear and transparent, curious- 
ly adorned with stripes of red or green colour. — 
One may read writing of tolerable large charac- 
ter by it at night. — Tlie creature, it is said, can 
contract or dilate the hood or bladder over its 
head at pleasure. — They hide all their light when 
taken, but when at liberty aflbrd it plentifully. 

It inclines one to think that the appearance un- 
der consideration is no more than the shining of 
some night-flying insect, when we are informe<l, 
that they give proof as it were of sense, by avoid- 
ing objects — that they often go in a direction con- 

trarv 



APPENDIX. 371 

trary to the wind— that they often seem extinct, 
and then shine again.— Their passing along a few 
feet above the ground or surface of the water, 
agrees with the motion of some insect in quest of 
prey ; as also their settling on a sudden, and ris- 
ing again immediately *. 

Some indeed have affirmed that igjies fatui are 
never seen but in salt marshes, or other boggy 
places. On the other hand it is proved that they 
have been seen flying over fields, heaths, and 
other dry places. 

I am informed in Boreman's second volume of 
his description of a great variety of animals, ve- 
getables, &c. &c. that a respectable person in Hert- 
fordshire t presuming upon his knowledge of the 
B b 2 grounds 

* I subjoin what -will perhaps be thought a curious extract con- 
cerning the appearance commonly called a falling star, from Dr 
Charltan's Paradoxes — ** It is, says he, the nocturnal pollution of 
" some p/et/iorica/ and wanton star, or rather excrement blown front 
" the nostrils of some rheumatic planet, falling upon plains and 
" sheep pastures, of an obscure redox brown tawney ; in consistence 
** like a gelly, and so trembling if touched, &c." 

The thoughts in the above passage are perhaps the quaintest that 
can be found in any language. 

Haggs, says Blount, are said to be made q^ sweat, or some other 
vapour issuing out of the head ; a not unusual sight among us when 
Ave ride by night in the summer-time : They are extinguished like 
flames by shaking the horse's manes. But I believe ratlier it is 
only a vapour reflecting light, hut fat and sturdij, compacted about 
the manes of horses or men's hair. Vide Blount in Verbo. 

f At Astley, seven miles from Worcester, three gentlemen saw 
one of these appearances in a garden about nine o'clock in a dark 
night. — At first they Imagined it to be some country fellow with a 
lanthorn, till approaching within about six yards, it suddenly disap- 
peared. — It became visible again in a dry field thirty or forty yards 
off — it disappeared as suddenly a second time, and v/as seen again a 
hundred yards oiF. — Whether It passed over the hedge, or went 
through it, could not be observed, for It di^.appeared as it passed 
from field to field. 



, \ 






372 A P P E N D 1 X. 

grounds about his house, was tempted one dart 
night to follow one of these lights, which he saw 
flying over a piece of fallow ground. — It led him 
over a plowed field, flying and twisting about 
from place to place — sometimes it would sudden- 
ly disappear, and as suddenly appear again. — It 
once made directly to a hedge, when it came near, 
it mounted over, and he lost sight after a full hour's 
chace. — In his return to his house, he saw it again, 
but was too fatigued to think of renewing the 
pursuit. This light is said also to have been ob- 
served to stand still as well as to move, and some- 
times seemed ^j^ed on the surface on the water. 
— We are informed that in Italy, two kinds of 
these lights have been discovered ; one on the 
mountains, the other on the plains. — The com- 
mon people call them culursi^ because they look 
upon them as birds, the belly and other parts of 
which are resplendent like the pjjraustcp^ or fire- 
flies. 

Mr Bradley, F. R. S. supposes the in//with the 
Wisp to be no more than a group q/'fjnali enlightaied 
insects. 

Mr Fr. Willoughby and Mr Ray arc of opinion, 
that the ignis fatuus is nothing but the shining 
of some night-flying insect. — Dr Dcrliam was of 
opinion, they were flrcd vapours *. 

.\ftcr 

At another time ^M.^.l^ xm^ ».^.|.i.-«.ii^o .^ 

yards, it seemed to pack off as in a fright. 

* There is a fire, toiuctimes seen flying in ir.o r.i^nr, mk^ a 
dragon : (who has seen a dragon that may '.vith propriety !>prak 
to the resemblance ?) It is called a ^r<'-//raAr. C» ' pld 

think it a spirit that keep<« some treasure hid ; bu: ; crs 

affirm it to be a great unequal exhalation inflamed LtUvetn two 
clouds, the one hot, the otlicr t^ld, (which is the reaion that it 

al><« 



APPENDIX. 373 

After having summoned such respectable wit- 
nesses in the cause under consideration, and hav- 
ing found that their depositions by no means 
agree, I shall not presume to sum up the evidence 
or pronounce sentence. 

We leave therefore the decision of the contro- 
versy to future discoveries in natural history, and 
to the determination of succeeding times. 

also smokes) the middle part whereof, according to the proportion 
of the hot cloud, being greater than the rest, makes it seem like a 
belly, and both ends like a head and tail. See Blount. 



Of the Borrowed Days. 

THere is an old proverb preserved in Ray's 
Collection. 

" J/>rzy borrows three days of March and they are ///.", 

Aprils is pronounced with an emphasis on the 
last syllable, and so it is made into a kind of 
rhyme. 

I have taken notice of this, because I find in 
the ancient calendar of the church of Rome, to 
which I have so often referred, the following ob- 
servations on the 31st of March. 

" The rustic fable concerning the nature of the month." 
" The rustic names of six days, which s\i2i[\ follow in 
" April, or may be the last of March*. "^"^ 

There is no doubt but that these observations 
in the ancient calendar, and our proverb are de- 
rived from one common origin. — I confess myself 
in the mean while unable to go any farther in tra- 
cing them back to their source. 

* Rustica fabula de natura mensis. 

Nomina rustica 6 dierum, qui sequentur 
In Aprili, ceu ultimi sint Mariii. 

Bbs Of 



374 



APPENDIX. 



Of CoCK-FlCHTING. 

Quanquam in media jam morte tciientur 

Kon tamen disistunt, Mortemre irarave remittuiit 
Magnanimi * : — 



MEN have long availed themselves of the 
antipathy 07ie cock shews to another, and 
have encouraged that natural hatred with arts that 
disgrace human reason. — The origin of'tliis sport 
is said to be derived from the Athenians on the 
following occasion : When Themistocles was 
marching his army against the Persians, he by the 
Avay espying two cocks fighting, caused his army 
to behold them, and made the following speech to 
them : " liehold, these do not fight for their house- 
hold gods, for the monuments of their ancestors, 
nor for glory, nor for liberty, nor for the safety 
of their children, but only because the one will 
not give way unto the other." This so encou- 
raged the Grecians, that they fought strenuously, 
and obtained the victory over the Persians ; upon 
which cock-fighting was by a particular law or- 
dained to be annuallypractisedbytlie Athenians; 
and hence w^as the original of the sport in England 
derived. — Thust far Mr Bailey. — The best trea- 
tise on this subject, is in the third volume of the 

Archal- 

* From a beautiful Lalin pt)em on ..,.. ... ,cct, in the 2d. volunic 
of the Musit Anglican*, it is signed, Jo. Friend, itdis Christi 
Alumus. 

f I do not find his authority for this among the ancients, 
not taken notice of by Plutarch. — Neither ^ ■ i/ius ^cpi,* 

mention anv such incident in his Memoir of I ^lc»s. 



APPENDIX. S75 

Archaeologia, by one *, who is an ornament to a 
Society, the institution of which does honour to 
our country. 

I shall give the reader something like a com- 
pendium of this excellent memoir. — Though the 
ancient Greeks piqued themselves on their polite- 
ness, calling all other nations barbarous ; yet Mr 
Pegge has proved clearly in this treatise, that 
they were the authors of this cruel and inhuman 
mode of diversion. — The inhabitants of Delos 
were great lovers of this sport, and Tanagra^ a 
city of Boeotia ; the isle of Rhodes, Chalcis in Eu- 
boea, and the country of Media, were famous for 
their generous and magnanimous race of chickens. 
— It appears they had some method of preparing 
the birds for battle t. Cock-fighting was an insti- 
tution partly religious, and partly political at 
B b 4 Athens 

* I wish this ingenious gentleman's dissuasions from our barbarous 
sport may be found cogent enough to put an end to tt. — He has been 
happily successful in tracing its origin. 

f The modern manner of preparing is thus described in the poem 
above cited : 

— Nee per agros sivit dulces ve errare per hortos j 

Ne venere absumant natas ad praelia vires, 

Aut Alvo nimium pleni turgente laborent. 

Sed rerum prudens penetrali in sede locavit, 

Et salicis circum virgas dedit j insuper ipsos 

Cortibus inclusos tenero nuirimine fovit 5 

Et panem, mulsumque genusque leguminis orane^ 

Atque exorta sua de conjuge praebuit ova 

Ut validas firment vires — 

Quinetiam cristas ipsis, caudasque fluentes 

Et colli impexas secuit pulchro ordine plumas 

Ut rapldo magis adversum, quasi veles in hostem 

Impete procurrat Gallus. 

Arma dedit calci j chalybemque aptavit acutum 

Ad tabs, graviore queat quo surgere piaga. 

Mus« Anglicanse. 



Z16 APPENDIX. 

Athens — (Socrates sacrificed a cock to -<?EscuIapi- 
us), and was continued there, for the purpose of im- 
proving the seeds of valour in the minds of their 
youth. — But it was afterwards abused, and per- 
verted ooth there and in other parts of Greece, 
to a common pastime and amusement, without 
any morale political, or religious intention ; and as 
it is now followed and practised amongst us. — It 
appears that the Romans, who borrowed this, with 
many other things from Greece, used quails • as 
well as cocks for fighting. — The first cause of 
contention between the two brothers, Bassianus 
and Geta, sons of the emperor SeptimiusSeverus, 
happened, according to Herodian, in their youth, 
about fighting their quails and cocks t. — -Cocks 
and quails, fitted for the purpose of engaging one 
another to the last gasp for diversion, are fre- 
quently compared in the Roman writers t, and 
with much propriety, to gladiators. The fathers 
of the church inveigh with great warmth against 
the spectacles of the araia — the wanton shedding 

of human blood in sport. One would have 

thought, that with this, cock-fighting would also 
have been discarded, under the mild and humane 
genius of Christianity. — But it was reserved for 
this enlightened a?ra to practise it with new and 

aggra- 

* Hence Marcus Aurclius, 1. sect. 6. says, " I learn from Di- 
ognt'tu?," ne rebus inanibus studium impendtrem, ne cotumices ad 
pugnam alerem, neve rebus istiu.^modi animum adjicerem. 

■)- Interque sefratre5 dis^idebant, puerili prinium ccrtamine, edcn- 
dis cotonilcum pugnis, Gallinaceonmiq. conflictibus, ac pucronm 
coUuctatJonlbus exorta discwdia. Herodian HI. j-cct. 33. 

X Hence Pliny's expression, Gallon'.Di,seu pladiatorum, and that 
of Columella, rixosaruni A^'ium iani.ua. — Laiiista Ixing the prcv. 
per term for the master of the gladiators- 



APPENDIX. 371 

aggravating circumstances of cruelty. The Shrove 
Tuesday massacre* of this useful and spirited crea- 
ture, is now indeed in a declining way ; but those 
monstrous barbarities, the battle-royal and Welsh- 
main still continue to be in full force amongst us. 
—A striking disgrace to the manly character of 
Britons ! 

It is probable that cock-fighting was first intro- 
duced into this island by the Romans. — The bird 
itself was here before Caesar's arrival t. 

William Fitz-Stephen, who wrote the life of 
Becket, in the reign of Henry II. is the first of our 
writers that mentions cocking^ describing it as the 
sport of school-boys t on Shrove Tuesday. The 
theatre (the cockpit) it seems was the school, and 
the master was the comptroller and director of the 
sport ||. — From this time at least, the diversion, 
however absurd, and even impious, was continued 
amongst us : It was followed, though disapproved 
and prohibited 39 Edward III. § — Also in the 
reign of Henry VIII. ** and A. D. 1569 tt— It has 
been by some called a royal diversion, and as every 
one knows the cockpit at Whitehall was erected 

by 

* To the credit of our northern manners, the barbarous sport of 
throwing at cocks on Shrove Tuesday is worn out in this country. 

f B. G. V. Sect. 10. 

X It was also a boy's sport at Rome. 

II Vide Stowe's Survey of London. 

§ Maitland's History of London, p. 101. Stowe's Survey of Lon- 
don, B. 1. p. 302. Edit. 1754. 

** Maitland, p. 1343. 933. 

f f Maitland, p. 260. 



378 APPENDIX. 

by a crowned head *, for the more magnificent 
celebrating of the sport. It was prohibited how- 
ever by one of Oliver's acts, March 31, 1654 t. 

Mr Pegge describes the Welsh-main, in order 
to expose the cruelty of it, and supposes it pecu- 
liar to this kingdom : — known neither in China, 
nor in Persia, nor in Malacca, nor among the sa- 
vage tribes of America. Suppose sixteen pair of 
cocks — of these the sixteen conquerors, are pitted 
the second time — the eiglit conquerors of these 
are pitted a third time — the four of these a fourth 
time — and lastly, the two conquerors of these are 
pitted a fifth time ; so that, incredible barbarity ! 
thirty-one of these creatures are sure to be inhu- 
manely destroyed for the sport and pleasure (amid 
noise and nonsense, blended with the horrid X 
blasphemy and profaneness) of those, who will 
yet assume to themselves the name of Christians. 
Without running into all the extravagance and 
superstition of Pythagoreans and Bramins, yet 
certainly have no right, no power or authority to 
abuse and torment any of God's creatures, or 
needlessly to sport with their lives ; but on the 
contrary, ought to use them with all possible ten- 
derness and moderation. 

In 

* King Henry VIII. Maitland, p. 1343. It appears that 

James I. was renuirkably fond t)f cock-fighting j is it impertinent t« 
add, 

" Cowards are cniel, but the brave 
" Love mercy, and delight to save.'* 
f Historia Histrionica. 

f Ecce decern pono lihras : Quis pignore certat 
Dimidio / hunc alter transverso lumine spectat 
Gallorum mores multorum expcrtus et artes j 
Teeum^ inquit, contendam \ 

IMu^o; Anglicanae. 



APPENDIX. 379 

In a word, cock-fighting is an heathenish mode 
of diversion from the first, and at this day ought 
certainly to be confined to barbarous nations. Yet 
(it may, and must be added) to aggravate the 
matter, and enhance our shame, that our butchers 
have contrived a method unknown to the ancients, 
of arming the heeis of the bird with steel ; a de- 
vice considered as a most noble improvement * in 
the art, and indeed an invention highly worthy 
of men that delight in blood." 

It still continues to be a favourite sport of our 
colliers in the north t ; the clamorous wants of 
their families solicit them to go to work in vain, 
when a match is heard of: 

Nequicquam jejuni urgent vestigia nati, 
Poscentes lacrymis tenerisque amplexibus escam 
Vincit amor ga/iorum, et avitce gloria gentis, 

* Pliny mentions the spur, and calls it teium^ but the gajle is a 
mere modern invention, as likewise is the great, and I suppose ne- 
cessary, exactness in matching them. 

N. B. The Asiatics however use spurs, that act on each side like 
a lancet, and which almost immediately decide the battle. — Hence 
they are never permitted by the modern cock-fighters. 

-f In performing not long since the service appropriated to the 
visit a do n of the sick with one of these men, (who died a few days 
after) to my great astonishment I was interrupted by the crowing 
of a game cock, hung in a bag over his head ; to this exultation 
an immediate answer was given by another cock concealed in a 
closet, to whom the first replied, and instantly the last rejoined,^-' 
I never met with an incident so truly of the tragi-comical cast as 
this, and could not proceed in the execution of that very solemn 
office, till one of the disputants was removed. 

It had been, it should seem, industriously hung there for the sake 
of company, — He had thus an opportunity of casting, at an object 
he had dearly loved in the days of his health and strength, what Mr 
Grey calls '* a longing, ling'ring look behind." 



560 APPENDIX. 



Of the vulgar Superstitions ccmceming the Moon. 

THE moon, the ancient object of idolatrous 
worship, has in later time composed an ar- 
ticle in the creed of popular superstition : The 
moon, Dr Johnson tells us, has great influence in 
vulgar philosophy. In his memory, he observes, 
it was a precept annually given in one of the Eng- 
lish almanacks, to kill hogs when the moon wa« 
increasing, and the bacon would prove the better 
in boiling. 

The common people, Bailey tells us, in some 
counties in England, are accustomed at the prime 
of the moon to say ; " It is a fine moon, God bless 
" her," which some imagine to proceed from a 
blind zeal, retained from the ancient Irish, who 
worshipped the moon ; or from a custom in Scot- 
land, (particularly in the Highlands) where the 
women make a curtesy to tlie new moon ; and 
some English women still retain a touch of this 
gentilism, who getting up upon, and sitting a« 
stride on a gate or stile, the first night of tlie 
new moon, say : 

<« All hail to the moovy all hail to thecy 
I pi'ithee good moon declare to me^ 
This night nvio my husband shall be" 

The ancient Druids had their superstitious rites 
at the changes of the moon. — The honiedness of 
the new moon is still faintly considered by the 
vulgar as an omen with regard to the weather. 

The Rev. Mr Shaw in his account of Elgin, 
and the shire of Murray, see Appendix to Pen- 
nant's 



APPENDIX. 381 

uant*s tour, informs us, that at the full moon in 
March, they cut withes of the misletoe or ivy, 
make circles of them, keep them all the year, and 
pretend to cure hectics and other troubles by them. 
Dr Johnson, in his Journey to the Western Is- 
lands, tells us, they expect better crops of grain, 
by sowing their seed in the moon's increase. 



Of Second Sight. 

THE learned author of the Rambler having fa- 
voured the public with his thoughts on this 
singular kind of superstition, and having so lately 
visited the scene of its declining influence, it will 
be unnecessary to apologize for using his own 
words on the subject : " We should have had lit- 
tle claim, says he, to the praise of curiosity, if we 
had not endeavoured with particular attention to 
examine the question of the second sight. Of an 
opinion received for centuries by a whole nation, 
and supposed to be confirmed through its whole 
descent, by a series of successive facts, it is desir- 
able that the truth should be established, or the 
fallacy detected. 

The second sight is an impression made either by 
the mind upon the eye, or by the eye upon the 
mind, by which things distant or future are per- 
ceived, and seen as if they were present. A mau, 
on a journey far from home falls from his horse, 
another who is perhaps at work about the house, 

see.^ 



382 



APPENDIX. 



sees him bleeding upon the ground, commonly 
with a landscape of the place where the accident 
befalls him. Another seer driving home his cattle, 
or wandering in idleness, or musing in the sun- 
shine, is suddenly surprised by the appearance of 
a bridal ceremony, or funeral procession, and 
counts the mourners or attendants ; of whom, if 
he knows them, he relates the names ; if he knows 
them not, he can describe the dresses. Things 
distant are seen at the instant when they happen. 
Of things future I know not that there is any rule 
for determining the time between the sight and 
the event. 

This receptive faculty, for power it cannot be 
called, is neither voluntary nor constant. Tlie 
appearances have no dependence upon choice : 
they cannot be summoned, detained, or recalled. 
The impression is sudden, and the effect often 
painful. 

By the term second sight seems to be meant a 
mode of seeing, superadded to that which nature 
generally bestows. In the Earse it is called taisch, 
whicli signifies likewise a spectre, or a vision. I 
know not, nor is it likely that the Highlanders e- 
ver examined, whether by taisch, used for the se- 
cond sight, they mean the power of seeing, or the 
thing seen. 

I do not find it to be true, a:- u i- imported, that 
to the second sight nothing is presented but phan- 
toms of evil. Good seems to have the same pro- 
portion in those visionary scenes, as it obtains in 
real life : almost all remarkable events have e\'il 
for their basis ; and are either miseries incurred, 

or 



APPENDIX. 383 

©f miseries escaped. Our sense is so much strong- 
er of what we suffer, than of what we enjoy, that 
the ideas of pain predominate in almost every 
mind. What is recollection but a revival of vex- 
ations, or history but a record of wars, treasons, 
and calamities ? Death, which is considered as the 
greatest evil, happens to all. The greatest good, 
be it what it will, is the lot but of a part. 

That they should often see death is to be ex- 
pected ; because death is an event frequent and 
important. But they see likewise more pleasing 
incidents. A gentleman told me, that when he 
had once gone far from his own island, one of his 
labouring servants predicted his return, and de- 
scribed the livery of his attendant, which he had 
never worn at home ; and which had been, with- 
out any previous design, occasionally given him. 

Our desire of information was keen, and our 
inquiry frequent. Mr Boswell's frankness and 
gaiety made every body communicative ; and we 
heard%iany tales of these airy shows, with more 
or less evidence and distinctness. 

It is the common talk of the Lowland Scots, 
that the notion of the second sight is wearing 
away with other superstitions ; and that its reality 
is no longer supposed, but by the grossest people. 
How far its prevalence ever extended, or what 
ground it has lost, I know not. The islanders of 
all degrees, whether of rank or understanding, 
universally admit it, except the ministers, who 
universally deny it, and are suspected to deny it, 
in consequence of a svstem, against conviction. 

One 



884 A P P E N D I X. 



\m ! 



m 



One of them honestly told me, that he came to 
Sky with a resolution not to believe it. 

Strong reasons for incredulity will readily oc- 
cur. This faculty of seeing things out of sight is 
local, and commonly useless. It is a breach of 
the common order of things, without any visible 
i|v| reason or perceptible benefit. It is ascribed only 

[j| to a people very little enlightened ; and among 

"f\ them, for the most part, to the mean and the 

|v Ignorant. 

j.v| To the confidence of tliese objections it may be 

replied, th^t by presuming to determine what is 
fit, and what is beneficial, they presuppose more 
knowledge of the universal system than man has 
attained ; and therefore depend upon principles 
too complicated and extensive for our compre- 
hension ; and tliat there can be no security in the 
consequence, when the premises are not under- 
stood ; that the second sight is only wonderful 
because it is rare, for, considered in itself, it in- 
volves no more difficulty than dreams, or perhaps 
than the regular exercises of tlie cogitative facul- 
ty ; that a general opinion of communicative im- 
pulses, or visionary representations, has prevailed 
in all ages and all nations ; that particular instan- 
ces have been given, with such evidence, as 
neither Bacon nor Bayle has been able to resist ; 
that sudden impressions, which the event has ve- 
rified, have been felt by more than own or pub- 
lish them ; that the second sight of the Hebrides 
implies only the local frequency of a power, which 
is no where totally unknown ; and »hat wliere wc 
are unable to decide by antccediMit reason, we 
must b^ content to vield to the force of testimony. 

By 



APPENDIX. 3S3 

By pretension to second sight, no profit was 
ever sought or gained. It is an involuntary af- 
fection, in which neither hope nor fear are known 
to have any part. Those who profess to feel it, 
do not boast of it as a privilege, nor are consider- 
ed by others as advantageously distinguished. 
They have no temptation to feign, and their hear- 
ers have no motive to encourage the imposture. 

To talk with any of these seers is not easy. 
There is one in Sky, w4th whom w^e would have 
gladly conversed ; but he was very gross and ig- 
norant, and knew no English. The proportion 
in these countries of the poor to the rich is such, 
that if we suppose the quality to be accidental, it 
can very rarely happen to a man of education ; 
and yet on such men it has sometimes fallen. 
There is now a second sighted gentleman in the 
Highlands, who complains of the terrors to which 
he is exposed. 

The foresight of the seers is not, always pre- 
science : they are impressed with images, of which 
the event only shews them the meaning. They 
tell what they have seen to others, who are at that 
time not more knowing than themselves, but 
may become at last very adequate witnesses, by 
comparing the narrative with its verification. 

To collect sufficient testimonies for the satis- 
faction of the public, or ourselves, would have 
required more time than we could bestows There 
is against it, the seeming analogy of things con- 
fusedly seen, and little understood ; and for it, the 
indistinct cry of national persuasion, which may 
be perhaps resolved at last into prejudice and tra- 
dition. I never could advance my curiosity to 

C c con- 



386 APPENDIX. 

conviction ; but came awav at last onlv willincc 
to believe.' 



Of Dreams. 

EVERY dream, according to Wolfiiis, takc^ 
its rise from some sensation, and is continu- 
ed by the succession of phantasms in tlie mind : 
His reasons are, that wlien we dream, we imagine 
somethin^^, or the mind produces ])hantasms ; but 
no phantasms can arise in the mind without a pre- 
vious sensation, hence neitlier can a dream arise 
M'ithout some previous sensation. 

Lord Bacon observes, that the interpretation of 
natural dreams has been much laboured, but mix- 
ed with numerous extravagancies; and adds, that 
at present it stands not upon its best foundation. 
It may be observed, that in our days, except a- 
mcngst the most ignorant and vulgar, tlic whole 
imaginary structure is flillen to the ground. 

Physicians seem (o be the only persons at |-:. - 
sent who interpret dreams: frightful dreams are 
perhaps always indications of some violent oppres- 
sion of nature. Hippocrates has many curious 
(U)servations on dreams : Ennius of old, has made 
that very sensible remark, that what men studied 
and pondered in the day time, the same they 
dreamed on at night. I suppose there arc few 
wlio cannot from tlieir own experience assent to 
the truth of his observation. 

Various are the popular superstitioi: 
least the iaint traces of them, that yet arc made 



APPENDIX. S87 

use of to procure dreams of divination. Such as 
fasting St Agnes' * fast, laying a piece of the 
first cut of the cheese at a lying-in, called here 
vulgarly the " groaning cheese," under the pil- 
low, to cause young persons to dream of their lov- 
ers, &c. Various also are the interpretations of 
dreams given by old women, but of which the re- 
gard is insensibly wearing away. 

* Festum S. Agnetls celebrarl coeptum est propter, quoddam mi- 
-raculum, qmxl octavo die suls contigit parentibus, ad ejus tumu^ 
lum lamentantlbus. Ita beletus, c. 75; 

Vide du Cange. in verb. Festum, 

Sommandi modus Franciscanorum hinc ducit originem. Antiqiii 
Kioris fuit oracula et futurorum prscscientiam quibusdam adhibitis 
5acris per insomnia dari ; qui mos talis erat, ut victimas ccederent, 
mox sacrificio peracto sub pellibus Cccsarum ovium incubantes, som- 
nia captarent, eaquc lymphatica insomnia verissimos exitus sortiri. 
Et Monachi siiper storen cubant in qua alius frater ecstaticus fuerat 
sonmiatus, sacrificat missam, preces et jejunia adhibet, inde ut com- 
muniter fit de amoribus per somnia consulit, redditque responsa prof 
•ccurrentibus spectris, &.c. 

Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 162, 



Of the x;ulgar sayings " deuce take you.'* 

FEW perhaps, who use this expression, particu-* 
larly they of the soft sex, who, accompany- 
ing it with the " gentle pat of a fan,'' cannot be 
supposed to mean any ill by it : are aware that 
t is synonmous with" sending you to the devil." 
Yet is it undoubtedly of equal import with the La- 
tin, " Abi in malam rem." Dus'ms * was the an- 
C c 2 cient 

* Q^uoniam creberrima fama est, multique se experto?, vel ab iis, 
qui experti essent, de quorum fide dubitandum non est, audisse con- 
fixmant sijhanos & faunas quos vulgo incubos vocant, improbos 

ssepe 



388 



APPENDIX. 



cient popular name for a kind of daemon or de\ il 
among the Gauls, so that this saying, of ^\ hich 
so few understood the meaning, has at least its 
antiquity to recommend it : It is mentioned in St 
Austin's City of God as a libidinous Dcema?i who 
used to violate the chastity of women, and with 
the inaibus of old, was charged with doing a great 
deal of mischief of so subtle a nature, that as none 
saw it, it did not seem possible to be prevented. 
Later times have done both these devils justice, 
candidlij supposing them to have been much tra- 
duced by a certain set of delinquents, who used 
to father upon invisible and imaginm^ agents the 
crimes oi real men. 



Of the Long Poles, xvhich are used as Signs to Bar- 
ber's Shops. 

Barbers' shops arc generally marked by long 
poles instead of signs: The Atlienian oracle 
accounts for this custom, which is of remote an- 
tiquity, in the ^following manner. Tlie barber's 
art was so beneficial to the public, that he, who 
first brought it up in Rome, had, as authors relate, 
u statue erected to his memory. In England, they 
were in some sort the surgeons of old times, into 

whose 



11 ^ 



'i' } i 



sicpe extitissc mulieribus & oarum appeli^se ac peregisse concubf- 
tuin *, et quoiiJam dii^moiies qu(^ dusios nuncupant Galli, hancassi- 
(iue immundltiam ot tcntare ct efficerc, plurcs taUy]ue a«everant, 
ut hoc negare impudcnt'uv vidcatur ; non liinc audeo aliquid tcmere 
definire, utrum aliqui spiritus.cltmento aereo cx)rporati, possint ctian 
banc pati libidmem, ut quomodo possunt, sentUntibus feminis mi.-- 
irartur. Cap. 23. 



f\ 



APPENDIX. 389 

whose art those beautiful Leeches *, our fair Vir- 
gins then too used to be initiated. (Thus in cor- 
porate towns, the present companies of barbar- 
chirurgeons.) They therefore used to hang their 
basons out upon poles, to make known at a dist- 
ance to the weary and wounded traveller t, where 
all might have recourse ; They used poles, as some 
inns still gibbet their signs (icross a town. 

^ An old word for a Doctor, or a Surgeon. 

f I am better pleased with the subsequent ingenious conjecture, 
•which 1 take the liberty of extracting from the Antiquarian Reper- 
tory. The barber's pole has been the subject of many conjectures, 
borae conceiving it to have originated from the word^o//, or head, 
with several other conceits as far-fetched and as unmeaning ; but 
thji true intention of that party-coloured staff, was to shew the Mas- 
ter of the shop practised surgery, and could breathe a vein as well 
as mow a beard j such a staff, being to this day, by every village 
practitioner, put into the hand of a patient undergoing the operation 
of phlebotomy. The white band, which encompasses the staff, was 
jiieant to represent the phillet, thus elegantly twined about it. p. 50, 



Gypsies. 

GYPSIES, says Browne, are a kind of counter- 
feit Moors, to be found in many parts of 
Europe, Asia, and Africa. They are commonly 
supposed to have come from Egypt ; (their name 
is corrupt for Egyptians) they derive themselves 
from hence. — Munster discovered in the letters 
and pass, which they obtained from Sigismund the 
emperor, that they first come out of lesser Egypt j 
that having turned apostates from Christianity, 
and relapsed into pagan rites, some of every family 

were 
Cc3 



590 A P P E X D 1 X. 

were enjoined this penance to wander about the 
world. Aventinus tells us, that they pretend for 
this vagabond course, a judgment of God upon 
tlieir forefathers, who refused to entertain the 
Virgin Mar?/ and Jesus, when she fled into tlieir 
country (this lie would be of service to them in 
Koman Catholic count rios\ 

Poly. Virg. accounts ihuni oiiginauy ,s//;7£/7..y. 
Philip Bergoinas derives them from Chaldca. 
-Slncas Silvius from some part of Tartary. 
Bellonius from Walachia and Bulgaria. 
Aventinus from the confines of Hungary. 

That they are do Egyptians Bclloniu«^ makes 
appear*, who met great droves of Gypsies in Eg}'pt, 
in villages on the banks of the Nile ; they were 
accounted stranger^ there, and wanderers from 
foreign parts, as with us. 

They made their first appearance in Germany 
about 14*00, they were never observed before in 
other parts of Europe. That they were first from 

the 

* Egyptian! crronura, imposloruroque ^enwi nequnnnium ; in 
confinn:!^ iMturrXy ^d tt ' ' ^ mm 

pervob.iis. Xi^redine 6k u*u 

rcrum omnium foedi. Futmini*^, cum >iiaU5 6t |»ar\ nto 

invehuntur. Literas clrcumferunt principum, ut inn jM?r- 

miUatur transltus. Oriuntur quippe i>c in nostra &. in cn»ni regi»»ne, 
spurci Inijusmodi ncbuloncs, qui sui similes in gymnafium sci'leris 
adsciscantes ; vullum, cultum, nw^rciquc supnidittos sibi inducjiit. 
Linguam (ut exotici magis vidcantur) fictltiam blaterant, provinci- 
asque vicatim pcrvagsntes, auguriis et furtis, impcsturis et tedina- 
rum minibus plcbcculam rod unt &. illudunt, ling. ' German 
KoTWEix.H quasi rubnmi Wallicum, id est bar •, Argli 

CANTING nuncupant. 

Spelman in Vorbo. 



APPENDIX. 391 

the neighbourhood of Germany, is also probable 
fro m their language, which was the Sclavonian 
tongue. They are called Bohemians in France. 

Of what nation soever they were at first, (he 
adds) they are now^ almost of all^ associating un- 
to them some of every country, where they wan- 
der ; w^hen they wdll be lost, or whether at all 
again is not without some doubt — unsettled na- 
tions have survived others of fixed habitations. 

Tliey have been banished by most Christian 
princes. — They seem beneath the notice of the 
laws. — The great Turk at least tolerates them 
near the Imperial city ; he is said to employ them 
as spies. They were banished as such by Charles 
tlie Vth." 

One still sees great quantities of them in the 
south of England. As the Egyptians of old were 
iamous for astronomy, natural magic, the art 
of divination, &c. so these their fictitious descen- 
dants are pretenders to fortune-telling. To co- 
lour their impostures, they artificially (as Mr Ful- 
ler would word it) discolour their faces, and rove 
lip and down the country in rags and tatters, 
deluding the ignorant vulgar, promising the 
country * girls lovers, and in return borrowing 
C c 4. their 

* The following extract from Mr Gay's pastorals, will not, I, 
hope, be thought impertinent here. 

A girl speaks that is slighted by her lover : 
" Last friday's eve, when as the sun was set, 
near yon stile, three sallow gypsies met j ''J 

iFpon my hand they cast a poring look. 
Bid me beware, and thrice their heads they shook 
They said that many crosses I must prove, 
Some in my worldly gain, but most in love. 
Next morn I miss'd three hens and our old cock. 
And off the hedge two pinners and a sinock." T^e duti/x 



I 



392 



APPENDIX. 



their fowls, smock-, &c. They are said indeed, 
and it i-i with great probability, to have in gene- 
ral very vague notions otmeiim k tman. 

See more on this subject in Dufresne's Glossary, 
and in an ingenious essay in the Antiquarian Re- 
pertory *; with which, if I had had the pleasure 
of seeing it before the compilation of this sketch, I 
should have taken the liberty of enriching my 
little collection. 



* These swarthy itinerant?, it is there said, at present, seem 
likely either to degenerate into commm beggars, or like some of 
their brethren in Spain, to be obliged to take to a trade or business 
for a livelihood. The great increase of knowledge in all ranks of 
people has rendered their pretended art of divination of little benc- 



to 



prcx;ure 



tl-r 



fit to them, at least by no mean. suJ''^' *• 
tenee. 

Such sort of people are called jn.ii in Northunii i.iaiiu j a 
"Word, of "Avhieh I know no etymon, unless it be derived ixovn fea'u\ 
foul, ugly. See the Glossary to the View of the Lancashire Dialect, 
Vi\icvcfeaw wlican, is rendered an ug/if icoman. 



Of the ^V\vnri?TVi I, .. 

DK Percy "*" tells us, *' tlie story of the wander- 
ing Jew is of considerable antiquity : It had 
obtained full credit in this part of the world be- 
fore the year 1228, as we learn from Matt. Paris. 
For in that vcar it seems there came an Armen- 

lan 



* Dr Brown remarks upon this legend, (which, as it has been 
an article of the people's belief, merit cxi some consideration) " Sure 
were this true, the wandering Jew might be a happy arbitrator in 
many Christian controversies j but must unpardonably condemn the 
obstinacy of the jews, w'po can contemn the rhetoric of such mira- 
cles, and blindly behold so living and lasting conversion5.'" 



APPENDIX. 393 

ian archbishop into England to visit the shrines 
and reliques preserved in our churches ; who be- 
ing entertained at the monastry of St Alban's, 
was asked several questions relating to his coun- 
try, &c. Among the rest a monk, who sat near 
him, enquired " if he had ever seen or heard of 
" the famous person named Joseph, that was so 
" much talked of, who was present at our Lord's 
" crucifixion and conversed with him, and who 
" was still alive in confirmation of the Christian 
" faith :" The archbishop answered, that the fact 
was true ; and afterwards one of his train, who 
was well known to a servant of the abbot's, inter- 
preting his master's words, told them in French, 
that his lord knew the person they spoke of very 
well ; that he dined at his table but a little while 
before he left the east ; that he had been Pontius 
Pilate's porter, by name Cartaphilus ; w'ho, 
when they were dragging Jesus out of the door 
of the judgment-hall, struck him with his fist on 
the back, saying, " Go faster Jesus, go faster ; 
why dost thou linger ?" Upon which Jesus looked 
at him with a frown, and said, " I indeed am go- 
ing, but ihou shalt tarry till I come." Soon af- 
ter he was converted and baptized by the name 
of Joseph. He lives, for ever, but at the end of 
every hundred years, falls into an incurable illness, 
and at length into a fit of extacy, out of which 
v/hen he recovers, he returns to the same state of 
youth he was in when Jesus suffered, being then 
about thirty years of age. He remembers all the 
circumstances of the death and resurrection of. 
Christ, the saints that arose with him j the com- 
posing 



S94 APPENDIX. 

posing of the apostles' creed, their preaching and 
dispersion; and is himself a very grave and holy 
person. This is the substance of M. Paris' ac- 
count, who was himself a monk at St Alban's, and 
was living at the time when this Armenian arch- 
bishop made the above relation. Since his time 
several impostors have appeared at intervals under 
the name and character of the wandering Jew. See 
Calmet's Diet, of Bible. Turkish Spv, vol. C. l). f3. 
Let. 1." 

We had one of these impostors not many years 
ago here in the North, who made a very hermit- 
like appearance, and went up and down our 
streets, with a long train of boys at his heels, mut- 
tering, " Poor John * alone !" " Poor John alone I" 
in a manner singularly plaintive. 

* A/iter poor Jew alone. 



OJthe viilgm^ -"^njitig i^iat a III Mi.\.Mj vskahs IIokns, 
or is a Couxute, ichen'his Xi'ije proves false to 
him : Also the inemiivg of the uvrd Cl ckold, 
whick has become a popular indication of the same 
Kind of infamy. 

Si quando sacra jura tori violaverit udor 
Cur gait iimneiitus coiiiua xir ? Caput est. 

Oicen. Epigram. 

^~^11E word horn *, in the sacred writings, 
X denotes fortitude and vigour of mind. In 

the 

* His horn shall be exalted : the horn of my sal\-alion, &c. 



APPENDIX. 395 

the classics, * personal courage (metaphorically 
from the pushing of animals) is intimated by horns. 
Whence is it then that a custom has prevailed al- 
most universally of saying that the unhappy hus- 
bands of false women *wear horns^ or are comutes ? 
it may be said almost universally, for we are told 
that even among the Indians it was the highest 
indignity that could be offered them even iopoint 
at a horn, 

t There is a great parade of learning on the sub- 
ject of this very serious jest in the " Paradise of 
pleasant questions," question 77. Various t are 
the opinions the learned have given in that curious 
collection of this strange custom — I shall pre- 
sent the reader with the sum of each of them : The 
Lawyer Parladorus supposes the word cornutus a 
compound of niidus S^^ corde^ as meaning a pitiful and 
sneaking fellow, as that man must needs be, who 
can sit down tamely under so great an insult. 

A conjecture this, that is perhaps worthy of some 
of our English etymologists, who in matters that 
required the deepest exertion of thejudgmenty have 
left all to the licentiousness of fancy, and of con- 
sequence disgraced the study of philology. 

Cselius 

* Namque in malos acerrlmus parata tollo cornua. Horat. Epod. 
Jam feror in pugnas & nondum cornua sumpsi. 

Ovid de Ebrietate. 
f In Spain it is a crime as muck punishable by the laws, to put 
up horns against a neighbour's house, as to have written a libel a- 
gainst him. 

J Elysius jacundarum questionum campus. 

Bruxellae, 1661, folio. 



S9G APPENDIX. 

Caglius Rhodoginus wishes to derive it froman 
Insensibility, peculiar as he says to the iic-goat *, 
who will stand looking on, while others possess 
his female t. And Aldrovandus accounts lor this 
by telling us, that this very salacious animal, is 
debilitated by his excesses before he ijj six years 
old, after which period, as if conscious* of his own 
impotence, he will molest no rival : This too has 
been exploded, for it has been proved that this 
animal is equally jealous with, and will fii^dit like 
others on such an occasion. 

Another conjecture is, that some mean hus- 
bands, availing themselves of their wives' beauty, 
have turned it to account by 7^;'05///i///>7^^ them, ob- 
taining by this means the hot^n t of Amaltliea, the 
cornu copia, which, if I mistake not, is called in the 
language of modern gallantry, tipping the horns 
with gokl. There seems to be a great deal of 
probabiHty in this surmise. Pancirollus, on the 
other hand, derives it from a custom of the de- 
bauched Emperor Androtuctis^ who used to hang 
up in a frolic, in the porticos of the forum, the 
stags horns he had taken in hunting, intendnig, 
as he says, by this new kind of insignia, to denote 
^t once the manners of the city, the lasciviousness 

of 

* A duccnda uxore valde abhorrco, ^uia gcntcm barbatuiam^ 
hiroofarnque progeniem pcrtromisco. 

Elysius jucund quest, camp. 614. 
f Staun^ cboraccnsibus est ligimm ablonguni, conlus bajuloruni. 
Hicks. I'here was an ancient custom of riding the stang, when 
one, in derision, is ma//e to ride on a pole for his neighbour^! wife's 
fault. See Glossary to Gaw. Douglas' Virgil. 

X Pauper erat, fieri vult dives, quxrit et unde, 
Vcndidit uxorem najnius, emit agrum. 

Martial. Epigram. 



APPENDIX. 397 

of the wives he had debauched, and the size of 
the animals he had made his prey, and that from 
hence the sarcasm spread abroad, that the hus- 
band of an adulterous wife hare horns, 

I am not satisfied with this last account ; all one 
gathers from it seems to be, that what Andranicus 
did was a continuation^ not the origin of this cus- 
tom : As to the word cuclwld *, it is plainly from 
the Latin cuculus^ the cuckow^ a bird, that as Ari- 
stotle says builds no nest herself, but deposits her 
eggs in that of some other bird, who hatches and 
adopts her offspring as the Mari Cocu t does the 
children who are none of his. 

I must conclude this subject with an apology ; 
it is not of the most delicate kind, yet in speaking 
of popular antiquities, it seemed incumbent upon 
me to say something about it. 

To jest concerning a crime, which is replete 
with every evil to society, is indeed to scatter 
JireS'hrands and arrows in our sport. It may be 
added, there is no philosophical justice in such in- 
sults : If the husband was not to blame, it is 
highly ungenerous, and an instance of that com- 
mon meanness in life of confounding a person's mis- 
fortunes with his faults : The cruelty of such wan- 
ton reflections will appear, if we consider that a 
man, plagued with a vicious wife, needs no aggra- 
vation of his misery. 

First 

* Pliny tells us, thsit "jine-dressers were anciently called cucJcows^ 
?*. e. slothful^ because they deferred cutting their vines, till that hii^a 
began to sing, which was later than the right time j so that the 
same name may have been given to the unhappy persons under 
consideration, when through disregard and neglect of their fair 
partners, they have caused them to go a gadding in search of more 
diligent and industrious companions* 

f French for cuckold. 



S98 APPENDIX. 



First o/' April, All-fools' Dav. 

Hunc Jocus memem 

Vindicat : hunc Risus et sinefelle Sales. 

BUCIIAXAT. 

A Custom, says the Spcciaior, prevails every 
where among us on the first of April, when 
every body strives to make as many fools as he 
can. The wit cliiefly consists in sending per- 
sons on wliat are called sleeveless * errands, for 
the history of Eve^s jnotJier^ for pigeon milk\ 
with similar ridiculous absurdities. He takes no 
notice of the rise of this singular kind ofannhrr- 
smi/. This is generally called ff/Z-fools day, a 
corruption, it should seem, of aiddy i. e. old-ioo\% 
day ; in confirmation of which opinion, I quote 
an observation on the first oft November in the 
ancient Roman calendar so often cited : " The 
feast oi okl fools X is removed to this day." This 

{old 

'* Skinner guesses lliis to mean a /.jacss errant/. I am nU sa- 
tisfied with tills etymon^ he assigns no cause for his conjecture. — 
This epithet is found in Chaucer, 
-f Vide Hallow Even, or nut-crack night. 

J I find in poor Robin's almanack for 1760, a md 

what is meant for a poetical description of the movi ries 

on the 1 %\. of April, ^ ilh the open avowal of being ignorant of the 
origin of them. 

The first of April some do say 
Is set apart for all-fools day •, 
But why the ptM»ple call it so. 
Nor I, nor thty themselves do know ; 
But on Uiis day are people sent 
On purjKwe for pure merriment *, 
And though the day is known before 
Yet fret^ucntly tlicrc is ^reat store 

Of 



APPENDIX. 399 

fools) seems to denote it to be a different day 
from the " feast of fools," which was held on 
the first of January, of which a particular descrip- 
tion may be found in Du Cange's learned Glos- 
sary in verbo Kalendce (see new year's day). All 
our antiquaries (that I have had the opportunity 
of consulting) are silent concerning the Jirst of 
April, It owes its beginning probably to a re- 
moval, which was of frequent use in the Roman 
Calendar, and of which I have just now adduced 
a seemingly apposite instance. There is nothing 
hardly (says the author of the Essay to retrieve 
the ancient Celtic,) that will bear a clearer de- 
monstration, than that the primitive Christians by 
w^ay of conciliating the Pagans to a better wor- 
ship, humoured their prejudices by yielding to a 
conformity of names *, and even of customs, 
where they did not essentially interfere with the 
fundamentals of the Gospel Doctrine. This wa.s 
<lone in order to quiet their possession and to se- 
cure their tenure : An admirable expedient and 

extremelv 



Of these forgetfuls to be found, 

Who're sent to dance Mo// Dixori's round ; 

And having tried each shop and stall, 

And disappointed at them all, 

At last some tells them of the cheat 5 

Then they return from their pursuit, 

And straightway home with shame they run, 

And others laugh at what is done. 

But 'tis a thing to be disputed, 

Which is the greatest^i^/ reputed, 

The man that innocently went. 

Or he that him design'dly sent. 
* This writer contends, that the ancient Druidical religion of 
Britain and the Gauls, had its pope, its cardlna/s^ its bishops, its 
deacons, &c. 



400 A P P E N D I X. 

extremely fit in those barbarous times, to prevent 
the people from returning to their old religion. 
Among these in imitation of the Roman Saturna- 
lia^ was the Festum Fatuorum^ when part of the 
jollity of the season was a burlesque election of a 
mock pope, mock cardinals, mock bishops *, at- 
tended (says he) with a thousand ridiculous and 
indecent ceremonies, gambols, and antics, such 
as singing and dancing in the churches, in lewd 
attitudes, to ludicrous anthems, all allusively to 
the exploded pretensions of the Druids, whom 
these sports icere calculated to expose to scoiii and de- 
Yismi. This feast of fools ^ had, continues he, its 
designed effect, and contributed perhaps more to 
the extermination of those heathens, than all the 
collateral aids of fire and swoid, neither of which 
were spared in the persecution of them. The 
continuance of customs, (especially droll ones, 
which suit the gross taste of the multitude), after 
the original cause of them has cc;^'"'^ f ' -^ ..,•..., ^ 
but no inicommon absurdity. 
. Our epithet t ofoldfools^ (in the northern and 
old English atdd^) does not ill accord with the 

pictures 

* " Andrew,, (says this ivriter) signifies a head Dniid or divine ; 
hence it -was, that M'hen the Christians, by way of exploding the 
Druids, turned them into ridicule, in their feast or holiday of iooK, 
one of the buffoon personages was a Merry Andrew^ This name 
is usually, but as erroneously, as it should seem from this writer*-) 
explication, derived from the Greek, Avherc it signifies manly or 
courageous. From the contrarieties in the definitions of etymolo- 
gists, Philology seems but too justly to bear the r'eproachful title of 
Eruditio ad libitum ! Science that we tvist and turn at pleasure. 

•f- Wc in the north call persons who arc thus deceived April- 
gouks. — A gouk is properly a cucIlcav ;;r.d is u^Ld hcroi:i<t:i- 



APPENDIX, 



401 



pictures of Druids transmitted to us. The united 
appearances of age, sanctity and wisdom, which 
these ancient priests assumed, doubtless contribut- 
ed not a little to the deception of i\\Q people. — 
The Christian teachers, in their labours to unde- 
ceive the fettered m.ultitudes, would probably 
spare no pains to pull off the mask from these 
venerable hypocrites, and point out to their con- 
verts that a'^e was not always synonymous with 
msdom^ that youth was not the peculiar period of 
folly ; but that with young ones, there were also 
old (aidd) fools. 

The reader must content himself with this ex- 
plication, which I think not an improbable one, 
at least till a better can be found. In joining the 
scattered fragments that survive the mutilation 
of ancient customs, we must be forgiven if all the 
parts are not found closely to agree ; little of the 

means 



pliorically in vulgar language for a fool. The cuckow is indeed 
everywhere a name of contempt. Gauch^ Teutonic, is rendered 
itultus, fool, whence also our northern word a goke or a gawky. 

Vide Skinner in Verbo. 
A vulgar superstition still prevails here concerning the cuckow ; 
it is thought very unlucki/ to have no money about one's person on 
hearing this bird for tlie first time in a season.. 

Mr Gay mentions thus, in his Spell, another popular supersti- 
tion, a species of divination amongst lovers on the occasion. 
". Whe;2/rj-/ the yea?' I heard the cuckow sing, 
And call with welcome notes the budding spring, 
1 straightway set a running with such haste, 
Deb'rah that won the smock scarce ran so fast, 
Till spent for lack of breath, quite weary grown, 
Upon a rising bank I sat me down j 
Then dofFM my shoe, and by my troth I swear. 
Therein I spy'd this yello^v frizzled hair, 
As like to Lubbetkin's in curl and hue, 
As if upon his comely pate it grew." 

Dd 



402 A P P I: N D I X. 

means of information is transmitted to us : that 
little can only be eked out by conjecture. 

I have sometimes thought that the obsolete 
sports of the ancient hoc-tide^ an old Saxon word, 
importing the time of scorning or tiiumphing *, 
which must have been about this time of the year, 
might have degenerated into the April fooleries. 
But I find no authority for this supposition, and 
insert it as a mere conjecture. 

Hoke day t, was an annual festival, said to have 
been instituted in memory of the almost total de- 
struction of the Danes in England by Ethelred, 
Anno. 1002. See Lambard, Blount, Heylin, Ver- 
*tegan, Strutt, Watt's Glossary to Matt. Paris, &c. 



* If I were ai^ked to turn this ^^ fools* day*^ into Latin, methinkf 
it could not be more aptly rendered than by " Dies irrUorius y — 
And so I find some of our best antiquaries translate the Saxon 
*rord pucx-Jaeg. 

f Hardeknuto mortuo, libcrata est Anglia cxtunc a servitutc 
Danorum : In cujus signum usque hodie ilia die, vulgariter dicta 
Hoxtuisday^ ludunt in villis trahendo cordas partialiter cum aliir 
j'ocis, J. UosM. Ant. Warwic. Hist. p. 105. 



Mi see Ua neons additional RE^fARKs. 

TO thcob>^ i>aiiv>ii^ oil tiiC A'l;^- //"i//, C liaptcr 
Vlllth, add the following: Bishop Hall, in 
his triumphs of Home, ridicules a superstitious 
prayer of the Popish church, " for the blessing of 
" clouts in the way of cure of di^cr'^c^." 

Mr 



APPENDIX'. 403 

Mr Hanway, in his Travels into Persia, Yol. L 
p. 177. tells us, " After ten days journey we ar- 
** rived at a desolate Caravanserai, where we 
" found nothing but "water. — I observed a tree 
" with a number of rags tied to the branches^ these 
" were so many charms which passengers coming 
" from Ghilan, a province remarkable for agues, 
" had left there^ in a fond expectation of leaving 
" their disease also on the same spot,'' He tells 
us that sneezing is held a most happy omen a- 
mongst the Persians, especially when repeated 
often. — That cats are held in great esteem, and 
that in that country too they have a kind of divi- 
nation by the bone of a sheep. 

To the observations on Chapter XXVII. — la 
the Appendix, No. 2. to Pennant's Tour, the Rev. 
Mr Shaw, in his account of Elgin and the shire 
of Murray, tells us, that in the middle of June, 
farmers go round their corn with burning torches 
in memory of the ccrealia. 

To the notes page 335. — ^It is customary at 
Oxford to cut what we in the north call the groan^ 
ing cheese in the middle when the child is born, 
and so, by degrees, form with it a large kind of 
ring, through which the child is passed on the 
christening day. 

Slices of the first cut of the groaning cheese are 
laid under pillows in the north, for the same pur« 
pose w^ith those of the bride-cake. The bride- 
cake is here sometimes broken over the bride's 
head, and then thrown among the crowd to be 
scrambled for. 

it would be thought here very unlucky to send 
away a child the &st time its nurse has brought 

D d 2 ifc 



4Q4 APPENDIX. 

it on a visit, without giving it an egg^ salt, or 
bread. 

To the observations on Chapter XIV. — Fool- 
plough, add " ^r<2/^rwminducere moris fuit Roma- 
nis, cum urbem aliquam evertissent, ut earn fundi- 
tus delerent. Vocabular, utriusque juris, a Scot. 
J. C. in verb. Aratrum." 

It is remarkable, that in some places where this 
pageant is retained, they pbugh up the soil before 
any house at which they have exhibited, and re- 
ceived no reward. 

The rnorriS'dancey in which bells are gingled, 
or staves, o ' words clashed, was learned, say- Dr 
Johnson, by the Moors, and was probably a kin^ 
of pyrrhick or military dance. 

*' Moriscuy says Blount, (Span.) a Moor ; also ^ 
*' dance so called, wherein there were usually five 
*' men, and a boy dressed in a girl's habit, whom 
*' they called the maid Marrion, or perhaps Mori- 
" an, from the Italian Morione, a head-piece, be- 
*' cause her head was wont to be gaily trimmed 
" up. — Common people call it a morris-dance,^' 

To the note on toast, page 342. add, " In the 
" Tatler, Vol. I. No. 24. it is said that the word, 
" in its present sense, had its rise from an acci- 
" dent at the town of Bath, in the reign of Charles 
" the II. It happened that on a public day a 
** celebr ited beauty of those times was in the 
'' cross bath, and one of the crowd of her admir- 
*^ ers topk a glass of the water in which the fair 
*' one stood, and drank her health to the com- 
" pany. There w^as in the place a gay fellow, 
" half fuddled, who offered to jump in, and 
*' swore, though he liked not the Uquor, h^ 

" would 



APPENDIX. io 

^' would have the toast : He was opposed in his 
" resolution ; yet this whim gave foundation to 
*' the present honour which is done to the lady 
" we mention in our liquor, who has ever since 
" been called a toast.'* 

I am not able to controvert this account, but 
am by no means satisfied with it.— The wit here 
is likelier to have been a consequence^ than the 
Cause of this singular use of the word ; it puts one 
in mind of the well-known reply of a Mr Brown^ 
in some late jest book, who, on having it observed 
to him, tliat he had given a certain lady a long 
while for his toast, answered, " Yes, but I have 
iiot been able to toast her brown yeV 

Archbishop Tillotson tells us, " That in all pro- 
bability those common juggling words of hocus 
pocus are nothing else but a corruption of hoc est 
corpus, by way of ridiculous imitation of tlic 
" priests of the church of Rome in their trick of 
" transubstantiation, &c." Discourse on Transub. 
Ser. v6. 

The subsequent passage fiom Gai/ maybe add- 
ed to the incantations of rustic maids, relative to 
their lovers. P. 344. 

" At eve last midsummer no sleep I sought, 
. " But to the field a bag of hemp-seed brought 5 
" I scattered round the seed on every side, 
" And three times in a trembling accent cry'd, 
" This hemp-seed with my virgin hand I sow, 
" Who shall my true-love be, the crop shall mow." 

Our rural virgins in the North are said to use 
some singular rites in fasting, what they call Sf 
Agnes' fast, for the purpose of discovering their 
future husbands. 

D d 3 Mr 



u 



cc 



1 



406 APPENDIX. 

Mr Strutt, speaking of the sports of children m 
his English ^ra, tells us, " Their amusements 
'' were much the same with those at present play- 
*' ed over by the young lads of this age, as trun- 
^' dling hoops^ hlind-man^s bitff^ playing with tops^ 
*^ shooting with boxi'S at marks, and swimming on 
*' bladders ; nay, the still younger sort, playing 
*' with ^whirligigs and paper wind-mills^ all which 
*' are found in an old missal in the possession of 
« John Ives, Esq." P. 99. 

It is said, if I mistake not, in Hawksworth's 
Voyages, that the top is known among the Indians, 
some of whom pointed to our sailors, who seemed 
to wonder at seeing it amongst them ; that in or- 
der to make it spin, they should lash it with a 
whip. — BUnd-man^s buffh thus described by Gay : 

As once I play'd at blind-man^ s buff^ it hapt 
About my eyes the towel thick was wrapt, 
I niiss'd the swain, and seiz'd on Blouzalind, 
True speaks that ancient proverb, " Love is blind." 

Thus also another puerile sport : 

As at hot cockles once I laid rae down, 

And felt the weighty hand of many a clown j 

Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I 

<^uick rose, and read soft mischief i" ^— - '^'e. 

Thus also of the meritot, vulgo apud puerulos 
nostrates, shuggi/shew ; in the South, a sxdng : 

** On two near elms the slackeh^d cord I hung^ 

** Now high^ now low^ my Blouzalinda swung, &c.'* 

Meritoty in Chaucer, a sport used by children, by 
swinging themselves in bell-ropes, or such-like, till 
they are giddy. In Latin it is called oscillum^ and 
is thus described by an old writer : Oscillum est 

genus 



APPENDIX. 407 

genus ludi, scilicet cum funis dependitur de 
trabe, in quo pueri & puellaa sedentes impellun- 
tur hue et illuc. Speght's Gloss, to Chaucer. 

I find the following elegant description of duck 
and drake in an ancient church writer : — The an- 
tiquity of this puerile sport will appear by the 
subsequent extract from Minucius Felix : " Pue- 
ros videmus certatim gestientes, testarum in mare 
jaculationibus ludere. Is lusus est testam teretem^ 
jactatione fluctuum levigatam^ legere de litore : 
earn testam piano situ digitis comprehensam, in- 
clinem ipsum, atque humilem, quantum potest, 
super undas inrotare : ut illud jaculum vel dor- 
sum maris raderet, vel enataret, dum leni impetu 
labitur; vel, summis fluctibus tonsis, emicaret, 
emergeret, dum assiduo saltu sublevatur. Is se 
in pueris victor em ferebat cujus testa et procur- 
reret longius etfrequentius exsiliret." P. 6. 

Gay describes another well known kind of 
sport thus : 

" Across the fallen oak \h.e plank I laid, 

*' And myself pois'd against the tott'ring jnaid y 

" High leap'd the plank j adown Buxoma fell, &c." 

The following beautiful sketches of other pue- 
rile diversions, are taken from Mr Grey's Ode 
on a distant prospect of Eton College : 

*^ Say, father Thames, for thou hast seen 

" Full many a sprightly race, 
'* Disporting on thy margent green, 

** The paths of pleasure trace, 
*' Who foremost now delight to cleave 
" With pliant arm thy glassy wavs ? 
** The captive linnet which enthrall ? 
" What idle progeny succeed, 
" To chace the rolling circWs speed, 
" Or urge the pjing hall V 

D 4 To 



408 APPENDIX. 

To have a month's mind^ implying a longing de- 
sire, is a figurative expression, of which the sub- 
sequent is the origin : 

Minnyng days, says Blount, (from the Saxon 
Gemynt)e, u 6, the miutl, q. Myuding days) Beds 
Hist. lib. 4. ca. 30. Comrnemorationis Dies ; days 
which our ancestors called their month's mindy 
their year's mind, and the like, being the days 
whereon their souls (after their deaths) were had 
in special remembrance, and some oflice or obse- 
quies said for them ; as obits, dirges, &c. This 
word is still retained in Lancashire ; but else- 
where more commonly called anniversary days. 
|;| I Add the following to the Observations on Chap, 

XVI. p. 159. WassaiUbomi : In the Antiquarian 
Repertory, Vol. I. p. 218, is a xcood-cut of a large 
oak beam, the ancient support of a chimney- 
piece, on which is carved a large Iwnl, with thh 
inscription on one side — TFass heil. 

" The figure, says the ingenious rcmarker on 
it, is of the old xcassell-bmcl, so much the delight 
of our hardy ancestors, wlio on the vigil of thr 
new year, never failed to assemble round tlie glow- 
ing hearth with their cheerful neighbours, and 
then in the spicy wassel-bowl (which testifies the 
goodness of their hearts) drowned every former 
animosity; an example worthy modern imitation. 
Wassell was the word, wassell every guest return- 
ed, as he took the circling goblet from his friend, 
whilst song and c\\\\ mirth brough.t in the infant 
year." 

The ih^ee blue balls, as I find in tlie above- 
named elegant Collection, prefixed to the doors 
and windows of pawn-brokers* shops, by the 
vulgar humourously enough said to indicate that 

it 



APPENDIX. 409 

it is Pwo to one^ that the things pledged are never 
redeemed, was in reality the Arms of a set of mer- 
chants, from Lombardy, who were the first that 
publicly lent money on pledges.— They dwelt 
together in a street from them named Lombard- 
street, in London — The appellation of Lombard, 
was formerly all over Europe considered as syno* 
nymous to that of " usurer J' 

The purple flowered lady's thistle, which grows 
in great plenty about the ruins of Tinmouth Cas- 
tle and Monastery, Northumberland, and of 
which, the leaves are beautifully diversified with 
numerous white spots like drops of milk ; is vul- 
garly thought to have been originally marked by 
the falling of some drops of the Virgin Mary's 
milk on it. — Whence I suppose its name, lady's 
(scil. our lady's) thistle : An ingenious little in- 
vention of popery, and which, no doubt, has been 
of service to the cause of superstition. 

To cry coke^ is in vulgar language, synony- 
mous with crying peccavi,-—^' Coke^ says the au- 
" thor of the Glossary to Douglas' Virgil, is the 
" sound which cocks utter, especially when they 
" are beaten, from which Sk. is of opinion, that 
" they have their name of coc/?." In Verb. 

Marry ^ a term of asseveration in common use, 
was originally in popish times, a swearing by the 
Virgin Mary — q. d. by Mary, So also marrffw- 
hones for the knees : I'll bring him down upon 
his marrow-bones, q. d. I'll make him bend his 
knees, as he does to the Virgin Mary. 

There is a vulgar custom in the north, called 
RIDING THE STANG, whcn ouc in dcrisiou is made to 
lide on a pole, for his neighbour's wife's fault t 

— Thi9 



410 APPENDIX. 

— This word stang^ says Ray, is still used in some 
colleges in the University of Cambridge, to stang 
scholars in Christmas time, being to cause them 
to ride on a colt-stafF or pole, for missing of cha- 
pel. It is derived from the Islandic staung^ hasta. 
Add to the conjecture on the etymon o^ivaffs, 
P. 99, the following : — Wrach in the Glossary to 
Gawen Douglas' Virgil, signifies a spirit or ghost, 
papian too A. Saxou is rendered stupere, horrere, 
fliictuare, 

N. B. I have carefully endeavoured to steer 
clear of Scripture controversy in the preceding 
observations. — The sacred writings, given for 
very different purposes, and to nations whose ge- 
nius and manners by no means resembled our 
own, cannot in my opinion, with any propriety, 
be applied to this suJ)ject, If it be objected here 
that spirits and apparitions^ drcavis, S^r. are men- 
tioned in them — so, I add, are miracles, yet we do 
not 7i(m make pretensions to a power of perform- 
ing them. 

The GREAT BEING, who presides over every 
cause of nature, can undoubtedly make all its ef- 
Jects subservient to his pleasure : In the silence 
of rational adoration, I prostrate my faith before 
the immensity of his pouer, of which I believe 
infallible ^wisdmi to have been the inseparable 
concomitant ; I must therefore apply in this place 
what Horace said upon another occasion : 
Nee Dem intersit, nisi digniis vindice nodus 
hiciderit. 



FINIS. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 



ABYSSUM - 140 

Absalom, his feast 283 

Air, the means by which a 

spirit becomes visible 111 

Alexander ab Alexandro, his 

story of an apparition ibid. 

All-saints church, in New- 
castle upon Tyne, an ac- 
count of the ceasing and 
reviving of the tolling of 
the bell, from a vestry 
book belonging to it 5 

Altar, worshipping towards it 44 
Ambrose, St. his corpse 



watched 

Anestese, the salutation of the 
Greek church on Easter day 243 

Angels, good and evil attend- 
ing upon men 

Anthony, St. buries Paul the 
hermit 

The Devil appears to him 
in the wilderness 

Anselm, a canon of his against 
worshipping of fountains 

Apparitions at tombs 

Arthur, king, how he observ- 
ed 13 days at Christmas 



2€t 



55 

32 

104 

83 

•7T 



201 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Ash- Wednesday 

Ascension-day, custom on, at 
Newcastle 

Akenside, Dr his birth, false- 
shame 

A you a hinny 

Apparitions 

Ash-Wednesday, remarkable 
custom on, in Germany 

All-hallow Eve 

Armed man, meeting, a good 
omen on an expedition 

Armilustrium — Roman fes- 



235 tival - 175 

Achs and corns, Prognostica- 
270 tion of weather by 217 

Artificial sun-dance on Eas- 

114 ter-day - 24Tf 

184 Amphidromia, feast of 278 

72 Ale-house signs - 340 

Apple-parings, divination by 345 
178 Apple-kernels, — ditto ibid. 

343 All-fools-day - 398 

Andrew, merry - 400 

101 Agnes' fast 405 and 387 



B 



Babylas^ his body carried out 
with psalmody 

Bede, his account of the cus- 
tom of monristeries at the 
death of any of the breth- 
ren 



ANTiaUITATES VULGARES. 

Bells, when first 
32 church 

Tolling of them for 
dead, a custom of the 
church of England 3 

2 Beersheba, the name of A- 

brahaii\'$ 



in the 



the 
old 



412 



GENERAL INDEX. 



I 



I 

lit 



braham's well - 84 

Bethany, the place where 

Mary iVlagdalene lived 245 
Bethlehem the village of 

Christ - 151 

Blowing of horns, when used 255 
Bone-fires - 275 

Bones of the dead - 76 

Brownists, their charge against 



ap. 



tolling the bell 
Brutus, his evil genius 

pears to him 
Buchanan 
Burying with the feet to the 

east, and the head to the 

west 
Our Saviour so buried 



58 
203 



4(S 
ibid. 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Bells, passing, additional re- 
marks on - 12 

general observations on 14 

Bible-clerk, custom of at Ox- 

rord - 15 

Board-strccking - 23 

Black, ubed in mourning 35 

Bearers, under - 35 
Bowing and turning to the 

altar, additional remarks on 50 

Buller of Buchan - 75 
Benton, Rag- well on the road 

to - - 85 

Babes in the wood 92 

Bars, strangers at 94 
Backwards, getting out of 

bed - - 95 

Blue, candles burning 97 

Blue specks on the nails 98 
Benshi, or the fairy's wife, 

shrieks of 99 

Barefoot, woman, omen 101 
Bruisers, custom of spitting 

in their fists - ib. 
Boys, custom of spitting their 

Saul - ib. 
Brownies, a kind of ghosts 116 
Bogle-boe, 116 and 324 
Butter, fairy - 119 
Brimstone, used in exorcis- 
ing - - 143 
Be^sy - - 176 
Balow, nurse's song 184 
Bysonjjholy ^ 185 



Bowl, wassail 195 and 409 

Bean-king, twelfth day 205 

Brok, farmer's horses so called 218 
Ball, hand, game of 252 

Bell, tein, a rural sacrifice 258 
Bone-fires - 277 

Buckler, a red velvet one of 

St Michael - 295 

Baby, corn or kern 307 

BcU-ropcs, tobacco made of 315 
Broom-sticks, witches riding 

on - 321 

Bewitched persons vomiting ibid. 
Beans, see car lings 327 

Bride-favours - 335 

Bride-cakes ibid, and 403 

Banners hung over the tombs 

of knights - 42 

Box, sprigs of, a substitute 

for paltfis - 240 

Bay, decking the coffm with 37 
Borlase, Mr his account of 

May -day rites in Cornwall 260 
Bringing the summer home 262 
Bacchanalia - 195 

Ball-money - 337 

Bid-ale - 339 

Bumj^rs - 340 

Black-puddings 355 

Borrowed day - 3 7 it 

Barber's shops, poles at 388 

Blind-man's buff - 406 

Blue balls — pa ^\-n -brokers 40S 



GENERAL INDEX. 



413 



ANTI^UITATES VULGARES. 



j£ake, baked in honour of the 
Virgin Ml^ry 

Cake, with a bean in, when 
used 

Candles, when lighted up in 
the eastern church 

Candlemas-day 

Cato 

Cassian, his account of spirits 
vanishing at day-break 

Childermas-day 

Christ born about the time of 
cock-crow 

Christmas candle 

Christmas carol, what de- 
rived from 



Chri<!tmas carol, first sung by 
204 the angels 
Church- yards 
200 Cloven foot, the devil ap- 
pearing with 
161 Cock-crow 

220 Collect for aid against perils 
214 Dr Comber, his discourse of 
the ancient manner ot bury- 

63 ing 

211 Crickets, ominous 

Crow, an ominous bird 

64 Crowning the corpse, a cus- 
155 tom of the heathens 

Crucifix 
181 Cypress, what it is an em- 
blem of 



63 
76 

102 
62 
61 



47 
88 
87 

39 
139 

30 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Clock, critique on the word 13 
Curfew - 18 

Candle set upon the corpse, 

&c. - - 24 

Coffin - 25—100 

Cock - - 74 

Cock, weather, or vane 75 

Children dying unbaptized 74 
Church-yards anciently with- 
out the walls - 80 
Cheek, burning of, an omen 91 
Chough - - 93 
Cats — omens - 92 
Cats - 322, 403 
Candles, letters at - 94 
Cross-legged, to sit 95 
Cricket - ibid. 
Crooked-pin - 97 
Chips of gallows - ibid. 
Charms for driving away 

rats, &c. - ibid. 

Carrying a corpse on ship- 
board - 98 
Candles, dead men's - 99 
Candle, rings in the 100 



Cinders bounding from the 

fire - ' - 100. 

Circle, fairies' - 117 

Conjuring, remarks on 143 

Casting out devils - 144 

Cakes, yule - - 163 

Christmas box - 164 

Christmas clog and coal 166 

Cock-fighting - 374 

Cow's hide, custom of dress- 
ing- in - - 180 
Christmas carol in old Scotch 183 
Cake, twelfth 
Calves' heads 
Corns and achs, prognostics 

of the weather 
Church monuments, ditto 
Common shores, ditto 
Candlemas day, bearing of 

candles on - - 
Carnival, see also pancake 
Tuesday - 233, 

Cocks thrown at 
Cats, nine lives 
Christmas pies 



206 
216 

217 
219 

219 

223 

331 

234 
ibid. 

254 
Cratch, 



414 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Cratch, rack or manger 254 

Column of the May 260 

Cross week - - 269 

Cities, guardians of 293 

Corn baby, or Image 307 

Cross bunns - - 312 

Cross mark - ib. 
Cat, the sine qua non of a 

witch - - 322 
Carlings - - 325 
Collop Monday - 331 
Confarreation, a wedding ce- 
remony - 335 
Crowing, unseasonable of 

Cocks, ominous - 92 

Cats, coming in, &c. of 

strange, ominous ibid. 



Circle, a conjurer's trap izi 

Conjurers, African, St Chry- 

sostom's saying to 142 

Coranich, song at funerals 27 

Creed, turning to the altar at 

the repeating of - 50 

Canute's law against worship- 
ping wells - 85 
Chum or kern supper 307 
Care- Sunday - 326 
Care-cloth - 330 
Coral, child's toy - 366 
Comute cuckold ibid. 39-4 
Children's sports - 406 
Cheese groaning 403 and 387 
Cuckow - 401 
To cry coke - 409 



D 



ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES 

Dancing in public forbid 193 December, how named of the 

Days, lucky and unlucky 211 
Dead, how placed in the 

grave - - 47 

Dead-watch, ominous - 88 



ancient Saxons - 156 

Dunstan, St took the devil 
by the nose - 109 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Devils, afraid of bells 


17 


mas 


174 


Debauchery at lake-wakes 


27 


Divisions, political and civil, 




Doles used at funerals 


36 


of the day 


75 


Death watch. Swift's account 




Deer, sight of, omen on an 




of - ^ 


95 


expedition 


101 


Divination, various modes of 


96 


Drummer, or haunted house. 




Dog, howling of, by night, 




extract from 


120 


omen 


101 


Dragon or fire-drake 


S12 


Devil, names of, old Nick, 




Deuce take you, vulgar say- 




old Harry 


115 


ing, what 


387 


Doughs, yule 


163 


Dreams 


386 


Decking churches at Christ- 




Duck and drake 


407 



ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 

East, the part of heaven our Easter Sunday - 241 

Saviour ascended to 45 Eastern magi - 199 

Easter holidays - 249 Edgar, a canon aiade in his 

time 



GESTEllAI, INDEX 



415 



time against worshipping 
of fountains 

And upon the observation of 
Saturday afternoon 

Egyptians, their guardian an- 
gels 



Epiphany - - 161 

83 Eseck, the name of a well 84 

Eve of St John Baptist, how 
147 observed - l59 

Exorcising a haunted house, 
289 what - - 123 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Earth, a small quantity of, 
laid upon the corpse 

Ever-greens at funerals 

East, altar towards 

East position in the grave 

Ear tingling, a sign that 
somebody talks of us 

Ephialtes, or night mare, to 
prevent 

Elf-locks 

Elf-shots 



Epiphany, or twelfth day 
23 cake 
37 Easter holidays 
52 Eulogium on Christian phi- 
52 losophy 

Easter holiday amusements 
91 Egg-shell, breaking after the 
meat is out 

97 Egg Saturday 

98 Eggs at Easter 
117 



205 
251 

144. 

252 

317 

333 
310 



ANTIOUITATES VULGARES. 



Fairies - - 107 

Faunes, how they appeared 104 
Flora, goddess of flowers 256 

Flowers, strawed on graves 40 
Friday, what ojDserved on it 



in exorcising an haunted 
house - - 132 

Fulk, his answer to the Papists 
in defence of their Palm- 
Sunday procession 237 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Face-cloth - - 23 

Funeral sermons - 36 

Funeral entertainments 24 

Flat-stones over graves 37 
Feet forward, carrying a 

corpse - - ibid. 
Flowers scattered on the tomb 42 

Falling of salt, omen - 95 
Fetch lights, or dead men's 

candles - - 99 

Forcing fire with a wheel 100 

Fox, omen - 101 
Fairies stealing children 116, 117 



Fairies circle or ring, but- 
ter - 117—119 
Fool-plough - 175 — 404 
Fools, festival of 179 — 195 
Flower, or flour of the wake 281 
Fontinalia - 86 
Fasting spittle, superstitious 

opinion of - 101 

Fields of May - 260 

Fastens or Fasterns Even 331 
Foot-ball money at weddings 337 
Fairs - 357 

Falling star ^ 371 



36 



GENERAL INDEX. 



G 

ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES 

Garlands &f flowers, when Gloria in excelsis 

used' - - 39 

Guardian angels - 289 

Genius evil, appearing to 

Brutus - - 58 

Ghosts departed, whether 

they appear again - 56 

Goat, what it is an emblem 

of - - 104 



Grass, why plucked up by 
the Jews 

Grave, strewed with flowers 

Greens ever, why used at fu- 
nerals, 

Gregory, a tradition mention- 
ed by him 

Guili 



182 

31 

40 

29 

159 

156 



ADDENDA AND APPENDIX 



Garlands 

Ghosts 

Guest— Ne^vcastle walking 

spirit 
Goblin 
Giul 
Gentlemen, Seldcn's defmi- 

tion of the word 
Goose intentos 



41 Gebelin, Mr, his etymon of 

73 yule - - 168 

Gule of August - 171 

75 Guardians to cities, people, 

116 &c. - - 293 

168 Guardian angels - ::95 

Groats - - 355 

ibid. Gule of August 171—364 

217 Gipsies - - 389 



H 



ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 



Hagmena, v.hat it signifies 181 
Hall, bishop, his opinion of 

the soul bell - 6 

HaUowed bells - ibid. 

Hand ball - 250 

Hare crossing the way, an ill 

omen - - 87 

Haivcst supper - 303 

Hauiitcd house ^- 110 



Hesperitius, his house haunt- 
ed - - 140 
Hilda, St, her death 2 
High nf)on, what - 148 
Holy water - 1 : -t 
Hooker, Mr, his custom at 
parochial perambulations ;;oo 



Husbandmen, observers of 



Saturday afternoon 



145 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



House-leek, why planted on 




Harvest-home ccremoi.' 


house-tops 


218 


Hare, divination by 


Heck ox heit I Interjection 




Hens — sudden fall of, uuuii- 


to horses 


217 


ous 


Heifer's tail, stuck aloft, 




Hornedness of the moon — 


bodes showers 


218 


omen 


Hand Vail — game 


252 


Holy, or hollow stones, hur. ^ 


Hamlcl, passage in grave- 




up in stables 


diggor's scene 


53 


Hydromancy, divination by 



ibid. 

ibic^r 



GENERAL INDEX. 



417 



water - 96 — 276 

Howling of dogs by night, 

ominous - 101 

Hobgoblin - 116 

Hagmeiia - - 164 

Holme, churches decked 

with at Christmas 174 

HoUy - - ibid. 

Hunting song, curious stan- 
za from - 186 



Hoppings, etymon of 302 

Harvest song - 308 

Harvest home, Thomson's 

description of - 309 

Horse-shoe nailed on thres- 
hold to keep out witches 317 
Hand-festing - 338 

Healths, drinking of 341 

Haggs - . 371 



I and K 

ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 



Jacob, how he prepared to go 
and worship God - 149 

Jerusalem, a tradition held by 
the holy men of it - 46 

Job, his visions of the night 59 



John Baptist's eve, St, 271 

Jonathan, his asking a sign 89 
Julius, not the original of yule 15S 
Ivy, why used at funerals 29 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Iron ladles affixed to wells 86 
Jesmond well - ibid. 

Inn pilgrims - ibid. 

Johnson, Dr. his account of a 

new year's-day cerenaony 180 
Juniper, burnt by Highlanders 



on new year's-day 
Judges nose-gay 
John, St. fires 
Jack with the lanthorn 
Ignis Fatuus 



195 

- 261 
279 
369 
ibid; 



Knells, nine for a man, after 
tolling the bell for a per- 
son's death 

Keeping of the corpse four 

days 



13 



25 



Kisses, strange, felt on the lips 100 
Kepping the ball - 253 

Kail, winning at Weddings 335 
Kitty with the wisp - 369 



ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 



Laurel, why used at funerals 29 
— What it is an emblem of 

at Christmas - 172 

Laying of Spirits - 113 

Ligatures - - 213 



Light, the emblem of several 
things - - 15S 

Locke, his opinion of appari- 
tions - - 51. 



Lake- Wake 

the dead 
Laying out, or streeking the 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 

Watching with 



corpse - - i:c» 

2 1 Leaving the coffin unscrewed 

till the time of burial 25 

E e Looking^ 



418 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Looking-glass, breaking one, Leaping over bone-fires 27 T 

ominous - - 91 Leaf-gold — eggs covered with 

Lambkin, sudden death of, [310 315 

ominous - - 96 Lemuria - . 327 

Libanomancy - ibid. Lupercalia - - 195 

Lead-ore, hazel's tendency to ib. Lucky, or ©therwise what 

Lots, divination by - ibid. times to marry - 337 

Lord of Misrule - 165 Lady- Fly, divination by 345 

Log . - 166 Lammas-day - 36^ 
Lamb, Rev. Mr. his Etymon 
of Balo\T - - 184 



M 

ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 



Mag-pye, its chattering o- 

minous > - 88 

Mamertus, bishop of Vienna 264 
Mary Magdalene, guided by 

the Moon to the sepulchre 244 
May Pole - - 255 

Mede, Mr, his opinion of the 
manner of good and evil 
spirits appearing - 104 

Mtedrenack - 156 

Mell-supper - 303 



Mid- winter - 157 

MLserere animabus - 7 

Monica, her corpse watched 28 
Monks, wrought in their 

cells - - 151 

Morning hymn, whether sung 

by the angels - 67 

Monday, what observed on 

it in exorcising a house 125 
Mumming - 191 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



MufPiing of bells - IS 

Mortuaries - 25 

Mercy -seat, Jews used to turn 

toAvards - - 50 

Mark, golden, found in bed 74 
Moles, on different parts, o- 

mlnous - - 95, 98 

Merry-thought, plucking of 97 
Mince-pies - 163 — 216 

Mummers - 185, 194, &c. 

May -day ceremonies - 257 
JVIilk maids at London ibid. 

Highlanders, ceremonies on 258 
May, lady of - 259 

Mace - - 261 



Mayor - - 261 

May-day song at Newcastle 262 

Midsummer eve rites 275 
Michaelmas, farther iL-marks 

on 292 

Mell-supper - - 307 

Mare, crying the, custom in 

Hertfordshire - 308^ 

Midleiiting or Mothering 

[329,330 

Mcrcheta Mulierum - 338 

Martinmas-marts - 355 

Moon, superstitions relative 

tb - - 3S0 



ANTIOUITATES VULGARES. 



Nabal, his feast 
New-year 



283 Night before Easter 

187 Night, the properest time for 



Iht 



CENERAI, INDEX 



419 



the appearing of evil spi- 
ritB - - 57 

Nonconformists, objections a- 

gainst ceremonies - 173 

Noon song, what - 148 

Northern parts, the place 



where psalmody Is chiefly 

observed - 32 

Nurses, their stories of bad 

consequence to children 57 

Nymphs, the goddesses of 

fountains - 85 



Names given to bells - 16 
Nail, rusty, ominous - 97 

Nails, spots on - 98 

set times of paring 98-— 100 

Nule, for yule - 167 

Night-mare, account of 324 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 

Nails in drinking cups 



Nutcrack night 

Nuts 



340 
343 
344 



St Nicholas' day, customs on 
in schools - 352 



o 

ANTiaUITATES VULGARES. 



01, what It means 




156 


Old year, how ended 


. 


187 


Olivet, Mount 




45 


Omens, the observation 


of 




them diabolical 




90 



Ostriches, bones - 213 

Oswald, St, his words when 

dying - 7 

Owl, an ominous bird 87 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX, 

fencing the grave 



Osiers, 

with 
Onychomancy or onymancy, 

divination by the nails 96 

Owls, screech, &c. - 97 

Old Nick, and Old Harry, 

popular names of the devil 115 
Obsession of the devil 142 

Old hat, used in raising the 



devil - . 143 

Old woman, figure in the 

fool-plough - 176 

Olaus Magnus' description 

of sv/ord dance - ibid. 

Ointment of witches - 320 
Old shoe, throwing, after one 

[94—336 
Orders, see St Nicholas day 364 



ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 



Palm- Sunday - 236 
Palms of good works, what 

they are - 239 

Panites, how they appeared 104 

Paul, St, his day - 208 

Paul, the hermit - 32 

Paula, buried at Bethlehem ibid. 

Peace of the disciples - 9 

Perambulations - 263 



Fiough-man - .151 

Plutarch, his story of the evil 

genius of Brutus - 58 

Popish priests, famous among 

the vulgar - 113 

Power of prayer - 4 

Prayers for dying persons 9 

Preparation for the Sabbath, 

what It Is an emblem of 152 
2 Prudentius, 



420 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Prudentius, his account of 
the vanishing of spirits at 
cock-crow 



62 



Psalm sung at watching the 

corpse 
Psalmody, used at funerals 



20 
32 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Passing bell, why the soul 

bell is so called - 12 

Psalmody at funerals - 34 
Pall to cover the coffin 35 

Poor, invited to funerals 36 

Pie, chattering of - 93 

Pin, crooked, omen, - 97 

Palmistry - - 98 

Print of foot In the ashes, di- 
vination by - 100 
Purses bounding from the 

fire - - ibid. 

Plough Monday - 11 S 

Pious chansons - 186 

Paul, St, festival of. Gay's 

account - 218 

Prognostications of weather, 

by a heifer's tail stuck aloft 218 
— ^by pricking corns - 219 

•—by swallows soaring high ibid, 
—by swinging signs in towns ibid. 
. — by whistling winds ibid, 

—by common shores (sewers) ibid. 



— by dropping vaults - 219 
—Stockings on hosier's poles ibid. 
Palm- Sunday, farther re- 
marks on - 240 
Parish, what it anciently sig- 
nified 
Procession, parochial at Ox- 
ford 
Pasche or paste eggs 
Pot or chaldron of witches 
Passion Sunday, in the church 
of Rome, the Sunday pre- 
ceding Palm Sunday 
Par-boiled wheat 
Pancake Tuesday 
Plucking off" the bride's gar- 
ters 
Posset at wedding suppers 
Pledge, I'll pledge you 
Pins in drinking cups 
Peascods, divination by 
Pie-powder court 



268 

269 
310 
320 



326 
330 
331 

336 
336 
339 
340 
344 
362 



Q 

ANTIQ^UPTATES VULGARES. 
Queen Elizabeth, an injunction of hers 

R 

ANTIQUITATES VULGARES. 

Raphael, the angel - 110 

Ravens, their cry, ominous 81 
Recreation laAvful, not sinful 251 
Reformation, too great - 4 
Rehoboth, the name of a avcU 84 
Resurrection of the same 
body always the opinion 



266 



of the ancient church 48, 49 
Rising early on Easter day 241 
Rogation wf ek, why so called 264 
Romish church filled the 

world with apparitions 108 
Ro«eraar}-, why used at fune- 
rals - 29 
ADDENDA 



GENERAL INDEX. 



421 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Rejoicing with bells 

Jleever bell 

Rose trees, planted round the 

graves 
Rain, happy the corpse it falls 

on 
Jled sea, laying spirits in 
Rag well, near Newcaitle 



16 


Robin red-breasts, unlucky to 




17 


kiU - 


92 




Rod, divination by 


96 


43 


Rings in the candle 


100 




Rogation week 


269 


53 


Ring-finger 


333 


74 


Royal oak day 


353 


85— 


Rose — under the rose, old 




402 


saying 


366 



s 



ANTI^UITATES VULGARES. 



Sabbath-day, \rhat observed 
on it, in the exorcising of 
an house 
Sacrifices to the sun 
Salamis, its inhabtants, how 

buried 
Salt, its falling ominous 
Satyrs, how they appeared 
Saturday afternoon, how ob- 
served - - 
Saturnalia, what it was 
Saxons, why they used the 

yule-clog 
Scot, Doctor, his opinion of 

ghosts in church-yards 
Seghnirim, how interpreted 
Sepulchre, how visited 
Shakespear, his accounts of 
Spirits vanishing at cock- 
crow 
Sheep-shearing, its feast 
Shepherds, when they have 



ADDENDA AND APPENDIX. 

Streeking, and streeking upon the corpse 

board - 23 Shroud 

Salt, a little upon a plate set 





had apparitions 


102 




Shrove tide 


230 


136 


Shrift 


ibid. 


157 


Sitnah, the name of a well 


84 




St Simeon 


220 


48 


Simon of Sudbury 


230 


87 


Sneezing when putting on 




104 


the shoes 


214 




Song, new year's 


190 


145 


Spanish church, why it ob- 




192 


served not the Rogation 






days 


265 


158 


Spirits, how they converse 






with men 


104 


78 


Star which appeared to the 




104 


magi, what it was an em- 




243 


blem of - - 
Sunday, what observed on it 


160 




in exorcising an house 


136 


54 


Sun dancing on Easter day 


241 


282 


Swithin, his day 


208 



Spurs hung up over the tombi 



23 
ibid. 

of 



422 



GEl^ERAL INDEX. 



of knights 
Spectator, on ghosts 
on omens 



42 
73 
96 
92 
93 



Swallows, unlucky to kill 

Spiders, ditto 

Sortes Homericae Virgilianae ibid. 

Speal-bone divination ibid. 

Second-sight 94 — 381 

Strangers at the candle and 
bars - - ibid. 

Shoe, old, throwing after one ibid. 

Scraping when we bow ibid. 

Stumbling in going down 
stairs, omen 95 

Sitting cross-leggM and with 
our fingers shut together ibid. 

Shooting of a star 92 — 96 

Saw-dust - 97 

Sailors superstition of whist- 
ling, &c. - 98 

Spitting, superstitions rela- 
tive to - 101 

Saturday afternoon, farther 
remarks on - 153 



Sword dancers 

Sharping corn, given at 
Christmas 

Sandgate, Billingsgate of the 
north - ' 

Saturnalia 

Scot, name of farmer's horse 

Sheep shearing, Thomson's 
and Dyer's description o: 

Sabbath of witches 

Sigillaria 

Scots farmers, their method 
of preserving their cattle 
against witchcraft 

Snails, divination by 

Six score to the hundred, rea- 
son of 

Sneezing superstitions rela- 
tive to 

Salt, custom of giving at Salt 
Hill 

Silly, or seely-how 

Second sight 



175 

178 

184 
194 
218 

285 
321 
195 



318 
345 

346 

350 

364 
367 

381 



ANTIQ^UITATES VULGARES. 
250 it 



Tanzy cake 
Tuesday, what was observed 
on it in the exorcising of 
an house - 125 

Theophylact, a mistake of his 304 
Threshold - 214 

Thumb - 213 

Thursday, what observed on 



Tizri, a month of the Jews 
Tomb of Christ 
Tombs, apparitions at them 
Twelfth-day 

Twenty days of Christmas, 
which 



1?J 

1:.J 

46 

56 

199 

201 



ADDENDA and APPENDIX. 



Tintinnabula, bells 


14 


Transubstantiation, curious 


Trumpets used for bells by 




thoughts on - 51 


the Jews 


15 


True-love knots at the bot- 


Tom of Lincoln, mighty Tom. 




tom of tea cups - 100 


ch. church 


16 


Thrift-box - 164 


Torches at funerals 


35 


Truant-clog - 166 


Tears painted on window- 




Twelfth day, custom on 204—308 


shutters, Scotland 


43 


Twelfth cake, mode of mak- 
ing 



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